1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

serfdom

noun

Definition of serfdomnext
as in peonage

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 serfdom Kollwitz’ life also coincided with the final days of aristocratic feudalism and serfdom in Germany and the nation’s economic transition to Industrialism. — Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025 Their desire for freedom was at the same time a denunciation of serfdom. — Michael Bruening, The Conversation, 25 Feb. 2025 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 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
  1. peonage
  2. servitude
  3. slavery
  4. enslavement
  5. yoke
  6. bondage
  7. servility
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
  • Countless stories of Zeke’s kindness, bravery and commitment to a life of servitude took up the nearly eight-hour hearing.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 24 July 2026
  • On the other hand, the court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims that withholding privileges or credits constituted involuntary servitude.
    — Julia Bowling, The Conversation, 29 May 2026
Definition of servitude
Noun
  • Cora, the granddaughter of a woman kidnapped from West Africa and sold into slavery, flees her captor’s plantation, plunging her into the book’s alternate steampunk reality where she is pursued by the merciless slave catcher Ridgeway.
    — David Faris, TheWeek, 16 Sep. 2026
  • There were none available when someone should have wiped from existence a hype video that used the painful history of slavery and the Civil War as college football rivalry fodder.
    — Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of slavery
Noun
  • Some were written by people who experienced enslavement, others were dictated, and some were preserved through oral traditions.
    — Reginald David, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2026
  • While Homer followed warriors sailing home from Troy, the playwright Euripides — writing some three centuries later — turned to the city’s ruins and its women, forced into exile and enslavement.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of enslavement
Noun
  • Suffering from severe financial inequality and oppressed by the yoke of dictators and oligarchs, the people rise up and storm the seat of government.
    — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Price upon request Louis Vuitton Pharrell’s autumn outing features several eye-catching knits, including this volcanic take on a Nordic yoke sweater, which deviates from more-traditional styles with an irregular, almost pixilated gradient pattern.
    — Jon Roth, Robb Report, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of yoke
Noun
  • Conahan, now 72, acknowledged having a bondage fetish in court but has always denied killing anyone.
    — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The Beaumont estate met these conditions, with its modest number of bondage workers.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of bondage
Noun
  • Though the national independence be blurred by the servility of individuals, though freedom and equality have been proclaimed only to leave room for a monstrous display of slave-dealing and slave-keeping .
    — Ann Manov, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
Definition of servility

Browse Nearby Words

serf
serfdom
serfdoms
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Serfdom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serfdom. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of watershed

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

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

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
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
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All