peonage

noun

Definition of peonagenext
as in serfdom

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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 peonage Many Black Americans fled this violent system of peonage and terror in the Great Migration, moving to cities such as Gary and Pittsburgh for a better life. — John E. Jackson Sr, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2026 Ryan Coogler didn’t want to hide anymore The film conveys two forms of peonage prominent in the 1930s South—labor arrangements not far removed from slavery. — Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 2 May 2025 The Black community’s relationship with growing food is colored by exploitive practices, from slavery to sharecropping, tenant farming and peonage, or debt servitude. — Lyndsay C. Green, Detroit Free Press, 27 Nov. 2024 Convict leasing, also called peonage, juxtaposed the infrastructure of the Old English debtor’s prison with the barbarism of chattel slavery to bolster American capitalism. — Phillip Vance Smith, JSTOR Daily, 1 Feb. 2024 See All Example Sentences for peonage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peonage
  1. serfdom
  2. servitude
  3. slavery
  4. enslavement
  5. bondage
  6. yoke
Noun
  • Or that Franciscan fathers — members of an order dedicated to lives of poverty and humility — forced tribes to give up their foods, customs and religion in the name of Christ, rewarding them with serfdom.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
  • Datebook Picks If Firs is a vestige of serfdom, Joseph O’Malley as eternal graduate student Pétya forecasts the coming revolution.
    — Theater Critic, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Feb. 2026
Definition of serfdom
Noun
  • For Beccaria, an execution’s fleeting spectacle deterred less effectively than lifelong penal servitude.
    — Maurizio Valsania, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2026
  • There is virtually no chance Clark saw his time in the league as comparable to servitude.
    — Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of servitude
Noun
  • Zaragoza compared incarceration with modern slavery, describing the treatment of inmates as inhumane.
    — Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The historical research aiding the film is conducted in collaboration with Caróu Oliveira, a Black historian dedicated to the study of slavery and the daily lives of Black women in the 19th century.
    — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of slavery
Noun
  • To truly understand Mason and her transformational impact requires an appreciation of her Christian belief, which sustained her through decades of enslavement and continued to guide her in freedom.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • How did the zombie go from being an emblem of enslavement and loss of autonomy in Haitian Vodou to the favorite flesh-eating grotesquerie of postapocalyptic tales?
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of enslavement
Noun
  • The protection of American jobs justified the chains of bondage, or so the argument went.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Biddy’s story doesn’t end in a Los Angeles prison cell or on the road back to bondage in Texas.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of bondage
Noun
  • Did Hayun’s decision to pull back on the plane’s yoke make the difference?
    — Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • One of the leading explanations for its origin goes back to an older meaning of the word ‘bucket’ — a beam or yoke from which animals could be suspended during slaughter.
    — Jim Dudlicek, Chicago Tribune, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of yoke

Browse Nearby Words

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peonage
peonages
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Cite this Entry

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

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More from Merriam-Webster on peonage

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about peonage

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