variants
also handmaid
as in housekeeper
a female domestic servant
the princess was intensely shy, and allowed only her handmaiden to enter her chambers
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of handmaiden
That’s for the courts to say, not Trump’s handmaidens in cruelty.
—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 18 July 2025
There’s a New Spirituality in Pop Music June 7, 1987
As religion and crypto-religion were locked in mortal combat, the AIDS plague was sweeping across gay communities like a firestorm, to the complete indifference of the federal government and their Christian handmaidens.
—Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2025
And what the project means by the term—turning the Department of Energy into a handmaiden of the coal, oil and natural gas industry—betrays not only the taxpayer but science itself.
—Megha Satyanarayana, Scientific American, 25 Apr. 2025
In Gilead, women exist in complete subordination to men, especially the handmaids, a class of women who are still fertile despite an ongoing environmental catastrophe that has decimated birth rates.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for handmaiden
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 18 July 2025
There’s a New Spirituality in Pop Music June 7, 1987
As religion and crypto-religion were locked in mortal combat, the AIDS plague was sweeping across gay communities like a firestorm, to the complete indifference of the federal government and their Christian handmaidens.
—Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2025
And what the project means by the term—turning the Department of Energy into a handmaiden of the coal, oil and natural gas industry—betrays not only the taxpayer but science itself.
—Megha Satyanarayana, Scientific American, 25 Apr. 2025
In Gilead, women exist in complete subordination to men, especially the handmaids, a class of women who are still fertile despite an ongoing environmental catastrophe that has decimated birth rates.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for handmaiden
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handmaiden
Noun
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Choupette is cared for at great expense and in the utmost luxury by Françoise Caçote, the designer’s former housekeeper.—
Allison Anna Tait,
The Conversation,
4 Nov. 2025
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The children's longtime nanny, Maria Turrion Borrallo, and the housekeepers will likely stay on other smaller properties on the estate, the outlet reported.—
Christina Dugan Ramirez,
FOXNews.com,
2 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Two years after starring with Polly James as single roommates on the first season of the Liverpool-set The Liver Birds, Collins in 1971 was hired for ITV’s Upstairs, Downstairs to portray the maid Sarah, who at one point leaves Eaton Place to become a singer at a music hall, only to return.—
Lisa de los Reyes,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Nov. 2025
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Jessica Barden will play the actress Nance O’Neill, who was Lizzie’s friend, and Vicky Krieps will star the Borden family’s maid, Bridget Sullivan.—
Joe Otterson,
Variety,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Handmaiden.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handmaiden. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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