Definition of peonnext
as in laborer
a person who does very hard or dull work the company had plenty of low-paying positions for people who were content to be peons all their lives

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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 peon 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 Not afraid but brave, not weak but empowered, not peons but partners. Ashley Lee, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2024 The powwow features various contests, including powwow singing, dancing, drumming, and peon games, with a total prize money pool of nearly $125,000 for this year’s participants. Lauren J. Mapp, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Jan. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peon
Noun
  • Built in 1610 by Spanish and Indigenous laborers, the church was destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt that drove Spanish colonizers out of the region for 12 years.
    Dan Fellner, AZCentral.com, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Even though public schooling became compulsory in 1896, the language barrier and the remote location of many plantations led to gaps in access to these laborers’ formal education.
    H.M.A. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 21 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • During the early days of the pandemic, Prem and his team dispatched medical staff to Singapore’s checkpoints for virus screening, as well as to foreign worker dormitories to care for workers who fell ill.
    Angelica Ang, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
  • At the same time, many of these tech companies, like Microsoft and IBM, have been providing accessible professional certificate programs to workers across the globe in hopes of closing the skills gap.
    Charlotte Hu, Time, 26 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Peon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peon. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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