Synonym Chooser

How does the verb emancipate differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of emancipate are free, liberate, manumit, and release. While all these words mean "to set loose from restraint or constraint," emancipate implies the liberation of a person from subjection or domination.

labor-saving devices emancipated us from household drudgery

When might free be a better fit than emancipate?

While the synonyms free and emancipate are close in meaning, free implies a usually permanent removal from whatever binds, confines, entangles, or oppresses.

freed the animals from their cages

In what contexts can liberate take the place of emancipate?

The meanings of liberate and emancipate largely overlap; however, liberate stresses particularly the resulting state of liberty.

liberated their country from the tyrant

When could manumit be used to replace emancipate?

The words manumit and emancipate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, manumit implies emancipation from slavery.

the document manumitted the slaves

When would release be a good substitute for emancipate?

In some situations, the words release and emancipate are roughly equivalent. However, release suggests a setting loose from confinement, restraint, or a state of pressure or tension, often without implication of permanent liberation.

released his anger on a punching bag

Examples 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 emancipate Founded in 1865, the Freedmen’s Bureau provided aid to recently emancipated slaves. TIME, 5 Sep. 2024 All monochrome, each piece’s design is refined to the minimum, emancipating it from trends or cultural influence. Michael Stefanov, Robb Report, 18 Sep. 2024 What to know During Hispanic Heritage Month, the anniversary of the independence of several Latin American countries that emancipated themselves from the Spanish monarchy is celebrated. Paula Soria, The Arizona Republic, 18 Sep. 2024 These days, by contrast, Harris looks unbounded, emancipated, often genuinely happy. Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for emancipate 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for emancipate
Verb
  • Lacking the self-conscious grimness of Arrow that initially kept it away from four-color adventures, The Flash was immediately liberated to go full comic book, kickstarting the small-screen answer to the MCU.
    Joshua Rivera, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2024
  • When the Russians came in to liberate it, the Nazis didn’t have enough time to burn everything down.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 31 Oct. 2024
Verb
  • More than 100 of the hostages have been released – most as part of a cease-fire deal last November, and some freed in Israeli military operations.
    Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024
  • The dual zippers are an ingenious feature, allowing precise ventilation and the ability to free your arms while keeping the sleeping bag otherwise zipped tight.
    Kevin Brouillard, Travel + Leisure, 4 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • Democrat Josh Harder is heading back to the U.S. House following his defeat of Republican Kevin Lincoln in California’s 9th Congressional District, according to election results released Friday.
    Jason Green, The Mercury News, 16 Nov. 2024
  • The Los Angeles County registrar did not update results over the weekend — the last tally there was released at 5 p.m. on Friday — but Tran is leading there with 56.26% of the vote.
    Hanna Kang, Orange County Register, 16 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • Stephanie Joyce: How did your hopes for getting rescued change as the sun started to set on the second day?
    Outside Online, Outside Online, 6 Nov. 2024
  • Almora district officials reported to the scene and worked to rescue passengers from the overturned bus.
    Charna Flam, People.com, 5 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • Millions were enfranchised when women got the vote in 1920, but Black women were mostly excluded from voting due to legal discrimination.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 18 Sep. 2024
  • Comprehensively enfranchising migrants as urban citizens could lead to severe backlash from the urban elites—the constituency with which the CCP most closely aligns.
    Damien Ma, Foreign Affairs, 25 Aug. 2015
Verb
  • Adding poignancy, the narrative is interspersed with obituaries of some of the patients Shelly could not save, showing them as human beings and not just names on a medical chart.
    Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 10 Nov. 2024
  • Projects save automatically, and even after downloading multiple projects, the total install size remained around 4GB, a fraction of the 512GB microSD in my Switch.
    PCMAG, PCMAG, 7 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • And even if the ordinance does apply to TSMC, city officials can loosen certain regulations if a large water user brings particularly high economic benefit to the city.
    Austin Corona, The Arizona Republic, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Washington could and arguably should provide Kyiv with more sophisticated systems and loosen the constraints on U.S. provisions for their use.
    Richard Haass, Foreign Affairs, 4 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • Tubman’s father had been manumitted by his owner, but Brodess had inherited Tubman, hiring her and her siblings out to neighbors for seasonal work, whether trapping muskrats or clearing land.
    Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 24 June 2024
  • Grant would manumit his one enslaved servant, William Jones, in 1859.
    Harold Holzer, WSJ, 1 Jan. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near emancipate

Cite this Entry

“Emancipate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/emancipate. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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