PEASANTRY Synonyms: 47 Similar and Opposite Words

peasantry

noun

Definition of peasantry

as in commoners

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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 peasantry The French peasantry has been and still is at risk of being disenfranchised by the very structures claiming to support their prosperity, often at the cost of both their health and land. — Made By History, Time, 25 Apr. 2025 For their part, the European peasantry grew wary of the Christian leaders who seemed to have abandoned them. — Michael Bruening, The Conversation, 25 Feb. 2025 By the late third century, most emperors and many of their top officials rose from the rural peasantry through the ranks of the army. — Jeffrey E. Schulman / Made By History, TIME, 20 Dec. 2024 But the network structures of Colonial America and ancien régime France were profoundly different (for example, the former lacked a large, illiterate peasantry). — Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 15 Aug. 2017 See All Example Sentences for peasantry

Recent Examples of Synonyms for peasantry

Noun

All that loot pumped out of the Armenian proletariat, says the gaur, and for what.

— Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Severin, on the other hand, represents the revolutionary proletariat.

— JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025

Definition of proletariat

Noun

Many Black Americans fled this violent system of peonage and terror in the Great Migration, moving to cities such as Gary and Pittsburgh for a better life.

— John E. Jackson Sr, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2026
Ryan Coogler didn’t want to hide anymore The film conveys two forms of peonage prominent in the 1930s South—labor arrangements not far removed from slavery.

— Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 2 May 2025

Definition of peonage

Noun

For a long time, the lifestyles and foibles of the modest bourgeoisie were a mainstay of art-house cinema, with urbane, upscale audiences happy to turn out to see versions of their own lives depicted on the screen.

— Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026
The town next door, Maplewood, built walls and created one-way streets to direct the flow of traffic coming in and out of Newark and Irvington to protect its fading notion bourgeoisie exclusivity.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 June 2026

Definition of bourgeoisie

Noun

While state law enforcement agencies will get 4% raises, the budget includes no raises for the 100,000 or so rank and file state workers.

— Jeffrey Schweers, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 June 2026
The choice was particularly interesting to Hollywood rank and file, which, in the era of M&A and private equity investments, is contending with more than a few minefields.

— Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 23 June 2026

Definition of rank and file

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peasant

peasantry

peasants

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“Peasantry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peasantry. Accessed 22 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of peasantry

noun

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