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Definitions

slaver

[slay-ver] / ˈsleɪ vər /


Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for slaver?
The word slaver has historically been used to refer to a person who participated in the enslavement of people, or, more specifically, to refer to a ship used to transport enslaved people. Many of the terms historically used in the context of slavery serve to justify or normalize the practice and are now often avoided and replaced with other terms that better reflect and emphasize the humanity of the people who were held captive and forced to labor. Notably, the term enslaved people is now widely used instead of slaves. In parallel with this change, the word enslaver is now often preferred over slaver because it emphasizes such a person’s active participation and complicity in the enslavement of people. Enslaver is also preferred over other once common terms, such as slave owner (which suggests that a person can actually be property) or master (which can imply that such a person has inherent power or authority that justifies their enslavement of people). Unrelated meaning A completely different and unrelated sense of slaver means the same thing as slobber or drool (all three of these words can be used as verbs or nouns). This sense of slaver is much older and derives from a word related to slobber. As a verb, it’s sometimes used figuratively to mean the same thing as fawn, as in Can you believe the way their fans slaver/fawn over those bands?

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

He was invited to join a group of slaver descendants confronting the past and through them, forged relationships in the country where Africans were once owned by his ancestor.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2023

Ellen, whose father was a slaver, was white enough to pass, but as a woman she could not easily travel unaccompanied in 1848.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2023

The Portuguese monarchy also hired explorers such as Alvise Cadamosto, a Venetian slaver sent to scout the region of Senegambia.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

This casting decision makes a clear point: Kind or not, a slaver is still a slaver.

From New York Times ● May 30, 2022

A visceral urge to flee sweeps through me, so powerful that I slow, stop, pull away from the slaver.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

Thus the British, who had been such enthusiastic slavers, went on to force Muslim rulers to end their own version of the practice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

Since sharia forbids Muslims from enslaving other Muslims, it became common practice to enslave non-Muslims from regions within reach of Islamic slavers.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

They could be lamentations or celebrations; at the same time, they could serve as a means of stealthy communication, spreading news outside the ken of white slavers.

From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2022

My own version of that would be: “Since the legacy of slavers cannot be borne, their names are crossed out. Since the legacy of slavers cannot be covered up, their names remain legible.”

From Washington Post ● Jul. 8, 2022

“Great Cleon sought only to strike down the vile slavers of Yunkai.”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

New York’s talent-hungry musical theater slavered for a follow-up.

From New York Times ● Oct. 8, 2019

Then he did a bit in which he slavered over Sabra hummus and Rold Gold pretzels.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 12, 2015

They slavered over the delicious incongruity of this young thruster mixing it up with gimlet-eyed corporate lawyers, and winning.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2015

Its premise is that 65-year-old Sandy, played by Corbett, is refusing to downsize the family home – slavered over by his shameless children – until his dog Henry dies.

From The Guardian ● May 3, 2010

Even the phlegmatic oxen that drew the wagons bawled and slavered while they strained forward, twisting their heads under the heavy yokes.

From Cow-Country by B. M. Bower

And those internal and external opponents of Boris Johnson slavering at the prospect of Whatsapp messages and potentially embarrassing photographs from inside Downing Street being made public are likely to remain unsated.

From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2022

Still, it was surprising to hear such a slavering tribute from a scientist in the midst of a global health crisis.

From Salon ● Mar. 9, 2020

With Star Wars: The Last Jedi, writer-director Rian Johnson made a point of answering questions set up by The Force Awakens, and giving fans some answers they were slavering for.

From The Verge ● Dec. 18, 2017

Nor is it really about slavering over money, at least in its early sections.

From New York Times ● Aug. 11, 2016

It was a large gray-and-brown creature, bigger than a setter, with a huge slavering mouth.

From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt


Vocabulary lists containing slaver

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