as in serfdom
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Recent Examples of peonage
Its darkest depths -- the rise of racial terrorism, convict leasing, debt peonage and more -- are only now being reassessed by millions of Americans whose racial awakening came through the crucible of Floyd's murder and the demonstrations that followed.
—
Peniel E. Joseph, CNN, 6 Oct. 2021
Many drivers stick around for the full year to avoid those fees, enduring what amounts to debt peonage.
—Andrew Kay, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2023
Redemptionists stymied Black progress toward economic independence through sharecropping and a debt peonage system that encumbered Black farmers with overwhelming financial burdens.
—Time, 15 Sep. 2022
For many years, prosecutions based on alleged violations of the 13th Amendment — passed in 1865 to outlaw slavery and involuntary servitude — focused on peonage cases, the use of financial debt as a loophole to enslave workers.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2022
See All Example Sentences for peonage
Peniel E. Joseph, CNN, 6 Oct. 2021
Many drivers stick around for the full year to avoid those fees, enduring what amounts to debt peonage.
—Andrew Kay, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2023
Redemptionists stymied Black progress toward economic independence through sharecropping and a debt peonage system that encumbered Black farmers with overwhelming financial burdens.
—Time, 15 Sep. 2022
For many years, prosecutions based on alleged violations of the 13th Amendment — passed in 1865 to outlaw slavery and involuntary servitude — focused on peonage cases, the use of financial debt as a loophole to enslave workers.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2022
See All Example Sentences for peonage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peonage
Noun
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Their desire for freedom was at the same time a denunciation of serfdom.—
Michael Bruening,
The Conversation,
25 Feb. 2025
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The peasants’ goal was to overturn serfdom and create a fairer society grounded on the Christian Bible.—
Michael Bruening,
The Conversation,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Our protagonist is, once again, drifter Max Rockatansky (previously played by Mel Gibson, but now inhabited by Tom Hardy), who is captured and forced into servitude as a human blood bag for one of Joe’s warriors.—
Travis Bean,
Forbes,
15 Mar. 2025
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Instead of constitutional rights and freedoms, Ukraine has a martial law now, which effectively reduces citizens to a state of servitude.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
Newsweek,
13 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The story of Freedman's Village connects Arlington to the national history of slavery and emancipation.—
Doug Melville,
Forbes,
18 Mar. 2025
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This problem dates back to the justification for slavery, when states' rights were invoked to perpetuate the brutal institution.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
17 Mar. 2025
Noun
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This economic bondage, called sharecropping, was a system by which tenant farmers rented land from large landowners.—
David Cason,
The Conversation,
7 Mar. 2025
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Leigh Bowery, the fashion icon and transgressive performance artist, designed several costumes (assless slacks; sparkly bondage suits) for Atlas’s video pieces and often appeared on-screen as a kind of spiritual hype man.—
Beatrice Loayza,
ARTnews.com,
6 Feb. 2025
Noun
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That’s a world in which Democrats might be able to actually pare back the GOP majority to 51 and embolden Republican senators who are already chafing under the MAGA yoke.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
14 Mar. 2025
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Were Cuba to throw off the yoke of dictatorship, some Cuban Americans would return to the island — or go there for the first time.—
Jay Nordlinger,
National Review,
12 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Peonage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peonage. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.
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