peasant

noun

Definition of peasantnext
as in clown
a person of low social status Those snobs treat anyone who lives on the "wrong" side of town like an insignificant peasant.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of peasant Sinclair confessed that his only direct experience with the motion picture business was as the financial backer of Sergei Eisenstein’s Thunder Over Mexico (1933), a documentary ethnography of Mexican peasant life. — Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2026 The video sweeps around a reveling fiefdom, showing everyone from peasants to dukes partying and getting it on. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026 In the video version, a ragtag group of Von Trapp Family-esque singers in mountain peasant regalia sing a song, with the paterfamilias (Kjartansson) leading on jazz guitar. — Carlos Valladares, ARTnews.com, 11 Sep. 2026 The violence that has been simmering with the Ploughman now erupts into a revolution joined by thousands and thousands of peasants. — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for peasant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peasant
  1. clown
  2. provincial
  3. peon
  4. gawk
  5. mountaineer
Noun
  • That’s not to jinx the master clown who’s currently doddering around in Argan’s shoes on Broadway.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
  • In several descriptions of these amateur events, including some of his own, Hemingway sounds less like a matador than a rodeo clown.
    — Stephen Bates, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of clown
Noun
  • The district elected a Western Canada Concept separatist in a 1982 provincial by-election.
    — Rob Gillies, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Marlowe, the son of a poor Canterbury cobbler, and Shakespeare, the son of a Stratford glover and alderman, were both unlikely artistic geniuses, provincials in a nation in which social class was rigidly fixed.
    — Heller McAlpin, Christian Science Monitor, 10 Sep. 2025
Definition of provincial
Noun
  • Soon there was an altercation at the front desk, when a Haitian upbraided the American peons about not getting her free stuff fast enough.
    — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Not only does the peon and con man Tom end up refashioning himself as the rich and carefree Dickie, but Highsmith’s novel itself was a retelling of Henry James’s The Ambassadors.
    — Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 19 Apr. 2024
Definition of peon
Noun
  • Carrie raves to Seema about her creative connection with Duncan, and during another writing session, Duncan helps Carrie with her faulty printer and gawks at her closet full of designer dresses and shoes.
    — Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 31 July 2025
  • The badaud, by contrast, is always liable to form a group or crowd, either for a mass gawk or some communal response.
    — Julian Barnes, The New York Review of Books, 27 Apr. 2022
Definition of gawk
Noun
  • The body was retrieved by helicopter during the afternoon and taken to Lukla, a town known as a gateway for mountaineers and trekkers heading to the Everest region.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026
  • During production, an avalanche killed 16 Sherpas in the icefall, turning the film into a chronicle of the disaster and the disproportionate risks Himalayan climbers take while helping foreign mountaineers pursue their ambitions.
    — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of mountaineer

Browse Nearby Words

pearls
peasant
peasantry
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Peasant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peasant. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on peasant

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about peasant

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fulsome

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Ten More Words from Taylor Swift Songs

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
couple-laugh-cafe
Quiz: Foreign Phrases You Should Know Check out your bona fides and avoid any faux pas.
See All