variants
also handmaid
as in maid
a female domestic servant
the princess was intensely shy, and allowed only her handmaiden to enter her chambers
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Recent Examples of handmaiden
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
After making her small screen debut aged eight, a 14-year-old Knightley entered the big leagues in George Lucas’s sci-fi epic, as a dutiful handmaiden to the pale-faced queen (Natalie Portman), who serves as her steely decoy.
—
Radhika Seth, Vogue, 26 Mar. 2025
However, like the original, it’s also grounded in the paranoia, compromises, and drudgery that are the handmaidens of intelligence work.
—Andy Meek, airmail.news, 23 Nov. 2024
Already convinced the coaches were nothing but handmaidens to the app, the firm piled on new clients heedlessly.
—Allison Pugh, TIME, 14 Aug. 2024
Some of its most savage jokes lie in the dynamics between master and servant — and none of those are more toxic than the one between Pampinea and her loyal handmaiden Misia (Derry Girls‘ Saoirse-Monica Jackson).
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for handmaiden
Radhika Seth, Vogue, 26 Mar. 2025
However, like the original, it’s also grounded in the paranoia, compromises, and drudgery that are the handmaidens of intelligence work.
—Andy Meek, airmail.news, 23 Nov. 2024
Already convinced the coaches were nothing but handmaidens to the app, the firm piled on new clients heedlessly.
—Allison Pugh, TIME, 14 Aug. 2024
Some of its most savage jokes lie in the dynamics between master and servant — and none of those are more toxic than the one between Pampinea and her loyal handmaiden Misia (Derry Girls‘ Saoirse-Monica Jackson).
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for handmaiden
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handmaiden
Noun
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Later, a tracking shot outside the Bennets’ house at night glides from window to window, glimpsing the parents, then the sisters in their rooms, and also one of the maids walking up a flight of stairs singing a love song to herself.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
18 Apr. 2025
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Last month, four Ugandan women in maids’ uniforms sent a video plea to an aid group, saying that they had been detained for six months in Saudi Arabia.—
Kiana Hayeri,
New York Times,
16 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Everyone, apart from underlings such as housekeeper Mary (Jackie Clune), are dressed immaculately enough to grace the cover of pre-war Vogue.—
Jon O'Brien,
IndieWire,
16 Apr. 2025
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Also watch out from some entertaining comedy moments delivered by Ryan O’Donnell (who plays Cher’s father, the teacher and a driving instructor) and Imelda Warren-Green (who also takes on multiple cameo roles as Miss Geist, Miss Stoeger and Cher’s housekeeper).—
Lee Sharrock,
Forbes,
15 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Handmaiden.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handmaiden. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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