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
-
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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The people are crying out for relief from medical servitude and the Trump administration keeps doubling down on the oppression.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2025
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The main character escapes servitude and arrives at a space station called the Eye, where different factions are fighting for both survival and freedom.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Lewis was working within the Neoclassical mode, recycling the stylings of ancient Greece for a new era concerned with enforcing the abolition of slavery.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
1 Apr. 2025
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Vanessa Northington Gamble, a physician and medical historian at George Washington University, says Crumpler’s story is part of a lineage of Black healers dating back to the time of slavery.—
Ella Jeffries,
Smithsonian Magazine,
31 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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But Knox, who was wrongly imprisoned during her 2007 study abroad semester in Perugia, Italy, twice convicted, and ultimately exonerated for the murder of her housemate Meredith Kercher, may never climb out from under the yoke of public opinion.—
Rachel Brodsky,
Rolling Stone,
24 Mar. 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Peonage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peonage. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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