as in peonage
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Recent Examples of serfdom
That book, Caliban and the Witch, traces the emergence of witch hunts throughout medieval Western Europe amid the transition from serfdom to proto-capitalism.
—
Hazlitt, 4 Sep. 2024
As the Big Three continue to drive down the road to serfdom, car production will continue in the United States.
—The Editors, National Review, 18 Sep. 2023
Following Mexico's independence in 1821, a small landowning elite replaced the colonial rulers, and most of the farmers (except those who joined farming collectives) transitioned from slavery to serfdom.
—Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 22 June 2023
Russian officers still treated their peasant soldiers as little better than serfs (and serfdom would not be abolished in Russia for another 50 years).
—Antony Beevor, Foreign Affairs, 29 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for serfdom
Hazlitt, 4 Sep. 2024
As the Big Three continue to drive down the road to serfdom, car production will continue in the United States.
—The Editors, National Review, 18 Sep. 2023
Following Mexico's independence in 1821, a small landowning elite replaced the colonial rulers, and most of the farmers (except those who joined farming collectives) transitioned from slavery to serfdom.
—Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 22 June 2023
Russian officers still treated their peasant soldiers as little better than serfs (and serfdom would not be abolished in Russia for another 50 years).
—Antony Beevor, Foreign Affairs, 29 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for serfdom
Recent Examples of Synonyms for serfdom
Noun
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Roughly 12% were of African descent — newly unshackled, technically free and already being legally recaptured under other names: peonage, vagrancy laws, convict leasing.—
Jack Hill,
Baltimore Sun,
17 May 2025
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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
Noun
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Advertisement The Fifteenth Amendment had prohibited denying or abridging voting rights based on race, color, or conditions of previous servitude.—
Time,
Time,
29 Oct. 2025
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The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Fulton County Reparations Task Force, a volunteer group in Georgia’s most populous county, recently submitted a 636-page report on the harms the municipality dealt through slavery and discrimination against Black residents.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
8 Jan. 2026
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When Connecticut receives a report of human trafficking – or modern slavery – multiple agencies collaborate to determine the situation, rescue the victim and provide necessary services like housing, health care and mental health support, and prosecute the offender.—
Kaitlin McCallum,
Hartford Courant,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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To us, Nottoway’s transformation in the 1980s – from a brutal site of enslavement to a luxury resort and wedding venue – represented the Southern plantation tourist industry’s tendency to whitewash our past.—
Essence,
Essence,
29 Oct. 2025
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For the Spanish, in one sense, the justification for the enslavement of Africans was complex and varied.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Both suits have sleeveless coveralls with yokes, front and back, of Lycra stretch knit.—
The Editors,
Outside,
20 Dec. 2025
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Other Foods That Are Rich in Vitamin D Vitamin D is found naturally in few foods, including fish (like those above), beef liver, egg yoke, and cheese.—
Kelly Burch,
Verywell Health,
28 Nov. 2025
Noun
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For enslaved people, the Revolution was a fierce campaign to stage the largest exodus out of bondage since biblical times.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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Douglass’s former North Star co-editor, Martin Delany, who had been admitted to Harvard Medical School but was forced out after white students complained, responded to Dred Scott — and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 — by writing a novel whose hero escapes bondage and plots an overthrow of slavery.—
Equal Justice Initiative,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Serfdom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serfdom. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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