enslaved

1 of 3

en·​slaved

past tense and past participle of enslave

enslaved

2 of 3

adjective

en·​slaved in-ˈslāvd 

en-

1

: held involuntarily and forced under threat of violence or death to work without pay for the profit of another

… a trove of historical records—birth registries, bills of sale, manumissions, wills and estate inventories—to demonstrate that in the late 1700s and early 1800s, dozens of enslaved people lived in what's now Cedar Grove …

—Shane Paul Neil

Much of the existing literature is about what enslaved people experienced, but if we attempt to add their engaged understanding, this narrative changes. Enslaved people … had very particular ideas about their value, ideas that differed greatly from their enslavers.

—Daina Ramey Berry

Slavery is not an indefinable mass of flesh. It is a particular, specific enslaved woman, whose mind is active as your own, whose range of feeling is as vast as your own; who prefers the way the light falls in one particular spot in the woods … and knows, inside herself, that she is as intelligent and capable as anyone.

—Ta-Nehisi Coates

2

: of, relating to, involving, or used for slavery or enslaved people

As demand for cotton grew as a result of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, so too did the demand for enslaved labor in the South and, in turn, the demand for new land to cultivate.

—Jamelle Bouie

A Gullah interpreter of enslaved life at Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens, she [Gloria Barr Ford] tells stories and sings spirituals outside of the nine brick cabins that used to be slave quarters.

—Tracey Teo

enslaved

3 of 3

noun

Phrases

the enslaved

plural in construction

—used collectively for people held in slavery and especially those captured, sold, or born into chattel slavery

King Charles has for the first time signalled his support for research into the monarchy's historical links with transatlantic slavery. But more should be done to listen and respond to the descendants of the enslaved.

—Brooke Newman

A steady stream of escaped enslaved men and women threatened the defense of chattel slavery, as the formerly enslaved unsettled the ideological foundations of the South with their own lives and testimony.

—Jamelle Bouie

Examples of enslaved in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The actual freeing of enslaved people occurred at varying times throughout the territories where slavery existed, depending on how far the Union Army had advanced. —Hank Beckman, Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2025

The video, which was recorded at a store in Atlanta, Georgia, showed several cakes minimally decorated in honor of the federal holiday on June 19, which marks the 1865 emancipation of the last enslaved people in the United States. —Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 21 June 2025

Noun

The flag is split horizontally with the red arched into the blue, signifying the bloodshed of the enslaved and depicting a new horizon. —Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 18 June 2025

The act was sealed in a pronouncement by Princess Isabel, who became a President Lincoln-like figure in Brazil, known to many as the benevolent white liberator of the enslaved. —Time, 17 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

from past participle of enslave

Noun

derivative of enslaved entry 2

First Known Use

Adjective

1618, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1647, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing enslaved

• the enslaved

Rhymes for enslaved

• autoclaved
• misbehaved
• behaved
• depraved
• engraved
• unpaved
• unsaved
• braved
• caved
• craved
• paved
• raved