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thrall

thrall

4 9.9
A person who is kept as a slave and forced to work
  • noun
  • /θrɔl/
  • NSFW
translation icon : esclavo
  • After years of being held in bondage, she finally found the strength to break free from her thrall.
  • held in thrall

Examples

  • I had given up my own soul to become another man's thrall.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • She's one of my thralls now.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • For six years, it had held him in thrall.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The time has come to fulfill your oaths, my loyal thralls.

  • Bring me my thralls.

  • For many generations, they were lorded over by decadent rulers who held the downtrodden masses in thrall by violence, self-serving lies, and the inertia of tradition.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • He lived most of his life as a thrall, working tirelessly under the oppressive rule of the landowner.

  • The villagers were in the thrall of a cruel lord, forced to obey his every command without question.

Synonyms

slave
vsthrall
746 3.4

A person legally owned by someone else who must work without pay or freedom

is broader, meaning held in bondage or servitude without only legal ownership
captive
vsthrall
54 4.2

Kept as a prisoner and not free

focuses on forced servitude or ownership rather than mere confinement
bond servant
vsthrall
  • Archaic
9.9

A person forced to work without pay for someone else

is broader and can mean someone held in bondage beyond unpaid work

Antonyms

freeperson
  • Archaic
9.3

A person who is not a slave and can own land and live freely

How Enslaved

slave
746 3.4
thrall
  • NSFW
4 9.9
captive
54 4.2
serf
19 9.4
servant
422 1.0
freeperson
  • Archaic
9.3

Surface Forms

thrall singular
thralls plural

Etymology

Thrall comes from an old Norse word þræll meaning 'slave', so it originally named someone held in bondage or forced to work.