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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Recent Examples of peon
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
The problem is manifested, for instance, in the absurdly long queues for even low-paying government jobs: India Today reported yesterday (June 6) that the government of Uttar Pradesh had received more than 5.5 million applications for the positions of gardeners, watchmen, and office peons.
—Niharika Sharma, Quartz, 7 June 2023
Time ran out far too soon for my old friend Mike Leach, which is cruel and unfair and truly sad, because Mike always seemed to have so much time for everybody else, even a young peon journalist like me in 1999.
—Brent Schrotenboer, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2022
Kids and adults played peon or hand games traditional to the region.
—Debra Utacia Krol, The Arizona Republic, 28 Aug. 2022
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
The problem is manifested, for instance, in the absurdly long queues for even low-paying government jobs: India Today reported yesterday (June 6) that the government of Uttar Pradesh had received more than 5.5 million applications for the positions of gardeners, watchmen, and office peons.
—Niharika Sharma, Quartz, 7 June 2023
Time ran out far too soon for my old friend Mike Leach, which is cruel and unfair and truly sad, because Mike always seemed to have so much time for everybody else, even a young peon journalist like me in 1999.
—Brent Schrotenboer, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2022
Kids and adults played peon or hand games traditional to the region.
—Debra Utacia Krol, The Arizona Republic, 28 Aug. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peon
Noun
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This film exposes the harsh contrast between the lives of people who enjoy cutting-edge technology in Silicon Valley and the laborers in the Global South who teach the machines to see.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
15 Oct. 2025
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Finding enough workers to fill open landscaping positions has long been a struggle, even when firms can bring in foreign laborers.—
Aldo Svaldi,
Denver Post,
12 Oct. 2025
Noun
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And the policies are projected to have far-ranging effects on most areas of business, including a potential loss of hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers in sectors like information and educational and health services.—
Nino Paoli,
Fortune,
21 Oct. 2025
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His focus on worker satisfaction drew loyalty in-house and exasperation from Wall Street.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Peon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peon. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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