enfranchisement

1
2
as in suffrage
the right to formally express one's position or will in an election a time when enfranchisement was limited to white males who owned property

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example 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 enfranchisement And in the young republic, enfranchisement quickly expanded further, with perhaps 80 percent of adult white men—90 percent in some states—coming to hold the right to vote. — Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic, 8 June 2026 Many claim that with the abolition of slavery and the enfranchisement of women, and many other new laws like civil rights legislation and changing gender norms, there has been great progress. — Literary Hub, 12 Dec. 2025 In theory, this transition inaugurates a chapter of enfranchisement, but in the next scene the Senegalese businessmen are in suits, and the white men return with briefcases full of money as bribes. — Lovia Gyarkye, IndieWire, 19 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enfranchisement
Noun
  • The standout style was the La Pigalle pump, representing a symbol of confidence and emancipation.
    — Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The March on Washington was about the unfinished business of emancipation and Reconstruction.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Connecting suffrage to the early civil rights movement, Dowd Hall demonstrates how a sizable network of churchgoing white women revolted against the white patriarchy and helped put an end to lynching in the South.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The 19th Amendment The result of a long struggle for women’s suffrage, the 19th Amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1878 but did not pass over many years and subsequent introductions.
    — Christopher A. Cooper, The Conversation, 1 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • For a time, the PC, the internet, and social-media networks all seemed to be vehicles for personal liberation and grassroots political empowerment.
    — Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
  • When those in power try to silence our calls for liberation, art will always be a form of resistance.
    — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 3 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Enfranchisement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enfranchisement. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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