enslaved 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of enslavednext
as in indentured

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enslaved

2 of 2

verb

past tense of enslave
as in defeated
to take control of and assert authority over
—usually used as (be) enslaved Her ancestors were enslaved during the war.

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of enslaved
Adjective
Of the 10 children Edy and her husband, Joseph Fossett, an enslaved blacksmith, had together, three were born in the White House. — Sophie Clausen, PEOPLE, 17 Aug. 2026 And the Hemings family was an enslaved family, an enslaved Black family on Monticello's plantation who - which included Sally Hemings, who was the daughter of Elizabeth Hemings and John Wayles. — Terry Gross, NPR, 14 Aug. 2026
Verb
There, our ancestors and those of your African-American cousins and family were enslaved. — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 29 Sep. 2026 Historians began to construct a rich and sobering narrative of the lives of both enslavers and enslaved, as well as a portrait of the system that bound them together. — Drew Gilpin Faust, The New York Review of Books, 19 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for enslaved
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enslaved
  1. imprisoned
  2. defeated
  3. bound
  4. reduced
  5. confined
  6. annihilated
  7. captive
  8. subjugated
Adjective
  • The favorite to win Brazil’s election has promised to free his imprisoned father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, grant amnesty to supporters and impeach Supreme Court justices.
    — Marina Dias, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The company is required by its contract and state policy to provide mental health treatment, education and other services to imprisoned youth.
    — Paige Pfleger, ProPublica, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of imprisoned
Verb
  • French defeated Republican incumbent Jim Wright in a May Republican primary runoff.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Oct. 2026
  • That’ll be particularly important after Paxton defeated Cornyn in a brutal primary where Senate Republicans and other Cornyn allies spent more than $90 million in his defense and attacked Paxton as unfit for office.
    — Matthew Choi, Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of defeated
Adjective
  • The team checked this directly by computing how much of each galaxy's baryon budget actually stayed bound to the system.
    — Paul Sutter, Space.com, 9 June 2026
  • To help calculate a lower bound, Erdős assumed that the points would be laid out in a grid.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 1 June 2026
Definition of bound
Verb
  • Taps won't go dry, experts say, in part because Arizona has already reduced its water use over the years.
    — Hannah Knowles The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
  • But for Deakins, the work is too dependent on the circumstances of a story, and the people telling it, to be reduced to any one method.
    — Callum McLennan, Variety, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of reduced
Adjective
  • That gave the team an additional visual reference during one of neurosurgery’s most confined operating environments.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces.
    — Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 31 May 2026
Definition of confined
Verb
  • Atlanta roughed up the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau, then annihilated the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome.
    — Jonathan Jones, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2026
  • About 66 million years ago, the Chicxulub asteroid smashed into Earth, kicking up tsunamis and dropping hot debris that annihilated non-avian dinosaurs and many other species.
    — Elizabeth Rayne, ArsTechnica, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of annihilated
Adjective
  • According to Mercedes-Benz’s captive finance company, Moore doesn’t legally own the car.
    — Byron Hurd, The Drive, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Along with Cold War Choir Practice, this is her second cult-captive housewife in less than a year.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of captive
Verb
  • In fact, in this retelling, their free will and autonomy are essential elements of that virtuous cycle, rather than subjugated by it.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2026
  • It’s gotten there by largely avoiding the trap of remaking the original story, in which an astronaut (Heston) crash-lands on a mysterious world in which apes are the dominant species and humans are subjugated, nonverbal creatures.
    — Jesse Hassenger, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of subjugated

Browse Nearby Words

enslave
enslaved
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Cite this Entry

“Enslaved.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enslaved. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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