variants
also handmaids
as in housekeepers
a female domestic servant
the princess was intensely shy, and allowed only her handmaiden to enter her chambers
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of handmaidens
Curators pop up in famous artists’ biographies all the time, usually as handmaidens to the creator’s genius, opening a door to a gallery here or supporting a grant application there.
—
Hilton Als, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2026
The common foe of all is expansionist Iran and its handmaidens Hamas and Hezbollah.
—Josef Joffe, The Atlantic, 14 Feb. 2026
Hilton Als, New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2026
The common foe of all is expansionist Iran and its handmaidens Hamas and Hezbollah.
—Josef Joffe, The Atlantic, 14 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handmaidens
Noun
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The new rules also force opt-out owners to pay extra for sheets and towels and hire their own housekeepers, who are not allowed to work on weekends.—
Larry Seward,
Miami Herald,
11 Apr. 2026
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The new rules also force opt-out owners to pay extra for sheets and towels and hire their own housekeepers, who are not allowed to work on weekends.—
Larry Seward,
CBS News,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Doris and Ann, the family’s longtime upstairs-downstairs maids, were there too.—
Jennifer Cannon,
Vanity Fair,
7 Apr. 2026
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Roughly 82% of the Bay Area’s maids and housekeepers are immigrants, and close to 40% of the total are undocumented.—
Sara DiNatale,
San Francisco Chronicle,
25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Handmaidens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handmaidens. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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