Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
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

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

“Is he looking for the whole truth here? The fact that he was a slaver and ran slaves up to the colonies? That’s what the historical documents say,” Hunt said.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2022

The Tribesman's mouth drops open, and the slaver regards me as if I'm a rat who has begun juggling.

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

By that time, white slavers had grown so accustomed to ignoring the Emancipation Proclamation, issued more than two years earlier, that even after Juneteenth, the institution of enslavement lingered on.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2023

This period witnessed the emergence of expansionist new states in West Africa, such as Dahomey and Segou, whose wars of conquest generated captives for European 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

Even he could not always make sense of the mongrel Ghiscari tongue the slavers spoke, especially when they were speaking fast.

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

Certainly not the critics, who slavered over its Royal Court premiere in 2007 and West End transfer, where the cast included the then-future Doctor Who, Matt Smith.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 25, 2010

He has slavered you with pretty speeches and soft words, as the cobra slavers his victim, and he will devour you, as the cobra does.

From Vixen, Volume II. by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

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

His reputation, however, resides in earthly paradise, with two blockbuster exhibitions this year, drawing tens of thousands to admire his slavering, fluttering, waddling abominations.

From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2016

He’ll hear piano music draining down through the upper stories and cock his head, and then he’ll rove the sixth floor like a slavering demon.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr


Vocabulary lists containing slaver

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember new words for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com