1
: a member of a European class of persons tilling the soil as small landowners or as laborers
This land was farmed by peasants for centuries.
also
: a member of a similar class elsewhere
2
: a usually uneducated person of low social status
They treated us like a bunch of peasants.
Examples of peasant in a Sentence
They treated us like a bunch of peasants.
Recent Examples on the Web
More than two million peasant families were given land.
—
Nik Kowsar, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
Bettany played English poet and writer Geoffrey Chaucer in the medieval action-comedy, which starred Ledger as William Thatcher, a peasant squire, fueled by his desire for food and glory, who forges a new identity for himself as a knight when his master dies.
—Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Sep. 2025
In sixteenth-century Europe, just as Martin Luther’s ideas were shaking Catholic institutions, a far more radical movement for freedom rose up among peasants.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 30 Sep. 2025
Perhaps 200,000 peasants supported a population of 3 million people in the Nile Valley in the 2nd millennium BCE.
—Vanessa Taylor, Big Think, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for peasant
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Nik Kowsar, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
Bettany played English poet and writer Geoffrey Chaucer in the medieval action-comedy, which starred Ledger as William Thatcher, a peasant squire, fueled by his desire for food and glory, who forges a new identity for himself as a knight when his master dies.
—Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Sep. 2025
In sixteenth-century Europe, just as Martin Luther’s ideas were shaking Catholic institutions, a far more radical movement for freedom rose up among peasants.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 30 Sep. 2025
Perhaps 200,000 peasants supported a population of 3 million people in the Nile Valley in the 2nd millennium BCE.
—Vanessa Taylor, Big Think, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for peasant
Cite this Entry
“Peasant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peasant. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
peasant
noun
peas·ant
ˈpez-ᵊnt 
1
: a European small farmer or farm laborer
2
: a member of a similar agricultural class elsewhere
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