slave driver

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See synonyms for slave driver on Thesaurus.com

noun

an overseer of enslaved laborers and enforcer of hierarchy and discipline in the institution of chattel slavery.

a hard taskmaster: His boss was a slave driver.

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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

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Origin of slave driver

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Words nearby slave driver

slave, slave ant, slave bracelet, Slave Coast, slave cylinder, slave driver, slaveholder, slave labor, slave labor camp, slaveling, slave-making ant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use slave driver in a sentence

Colleagues describe Kashkari as sharp, meticulous, and something of a slave driver, despite having a lighthearted sense of humor.
The Guy Who's Got $700 Billion of Your Money|Ross Goldberg|October 9, 2008|DAILY BEAST
No doubt you would give free play to the strap and the rawhide and other implements of the slave-driver.
A Little Union Scout|Joel Chandler Harris
Next came a swaggering bully of a slave-driver, evidently bred in the North.
Lands of the Slave and the Free|Henry A. Murray
She had in her beautiful kindness redeemed his soul from ignorance, as she had purchased his body from the slave-driver's lash.
Silent Struggles|Ann S. Stephens

This was a sight not new; but in their midst he caught a glimpse of a crested helmet and the black cloak of a slave-driver.
Nicanor - Teller of Tales|C. Bryson Taylor
He neglected his carving, waged bloody battles with his fellow workmen, bullied Master Tobias like any slave-driver.
Nicanor - Teller of Tales|C. Bryson Taylor

British Dictionary definitions for slave driver

slave-driver

noun

(esp formerly) a person forcing slaves to work

an employer who demands excessively hard work from his employees

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012