indentured

adjective

Definition of indenturednext
as in enslaved
required by a contract to work for a certain period of time immigrants who came to the U.S. as indentured servants 200 years ago

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for indentured
  1. enslaved
  2. jailed
  3. bound
  4. imprisoned
  5. captive
Adjective
  • Her path crosses with that of Inocência, an enslaved Black woman who possesses healing knowledge, knows the land, and devises her own strategies of resistance.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Ten Southern state legislatures endorsed the idea by passing laws that allowed the freeing of an enslaved person only when deportation out of the state was arranged and paid for.
    — Karen Masterson, The Conversation, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of enslaved
Adjective
  • On many mornings, shackled migrants plead guilty to military trespass charges rather than remain jailed awaiting trial.
    — Agnel Philip, ProPublica, 16 Mar. 2026
Definition of jailed
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
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
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
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.

Browse Nearby Words

indenture
indentured
indentured servant
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Cite this Entry

“Indentured.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/indentured. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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