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
  • But there's a certain kind of person who wants a person's back broken, bent over, in servitude.
    — Kate Berlant, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Oct. 2026
  • For Beccaria, an execution’s fleeting spectacle deterred less effectively than lifelong penal servitude.
    — Maurizio Valsania, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of servitude
Noun
  • Instagram direct messages to a University of Miami football player that included rape imagery, violent slavery imagery, three uses of the N-word and two uses of a homophobic slur are under investigation by the Florida Bar.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Lincoln lost that year, but the country benefited from their arguments over the legality and morality of slavery.
    — Editorial Board, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of slavery
Noun
  • He was born into enslavement in Edgefield District, South Carolina, bound by laws that forbade Black literacy.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Anyone arguing otherwise either believes in human enslavement, has no grasp of history, or suffers from both afflictions.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of enslavement
Noun
  • Behind closed doors, Gower was also uncomfortable with his interest in bondage, according to the docuseries.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The protection of American jobs justified the chains of bondage, or so the argument went.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of bondage
Noun
  • The Roadster features a steer-by-wire yoke that electronically transmits steering inputs.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Utilizing advanced digital steer-by-wire technology, this rectangular yoke replaces a mechanical steering column completely with precise electronic actuators.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of yoke

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Cite this Entry

“Peonage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peonage. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on peonage

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about peonage

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