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
Johnson envisioned a postwar order in which former slaves would transition into permanent serfdom, destined for labor but no independent economic life and no place in politics.
—David W. Blight, Foreign Affairs, 8 Dec. 2020
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
See All Example Sentences for serfdom
Hazlitt, 4 Sep. 2024
Johnson envisioned a postwar order in which former slaves would transition into permanent serfdom, destined for labor but no independent economic life and no place in politics.
—David W. Blight, Foreign Affairs, 8 Dec. 2020
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
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
-
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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There was, however, a fateful exception: slavery or involuntary servitude would remain permissible as punishment for crimes.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
30 June 2025
-
Later that year, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime.—
Maura Fox,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
21 June 2025
Noun
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The tragedy of slavery is also explored here, including an award-winning exhibit called Slavery and Cotton in the Shoals with work by textile artist Valerie S. Goodwin.—
Lisa Cericola,
Southern Living,
5 July 2025
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Douglass’s decision to speak on July 5, deliberately after Independence Day celebrations, symbolically underscored his argument: America’s celebration of freedom was bitterly ironic and deeply hypocritical in the context of slavery and racial oppression.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
4 July 2025
Noun
-
On its second test flight, however, the pilot was not available and Smolinski and Blake decided to take the wheel/yoke.—
Scott Lafee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 June 2025
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Where Harlan is decisive and self-possessed, Cane is anxious and unconfident, a good guy stymied by both the yoke of responsibility and his father’s tendency to cut him off at the knees (and punch him in the face).—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
19 June 2025
Noun
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The judge kept his half-brothers in bondage in Austin until Juneteenth in 1865.—
Michael Barnes,
Austin American Statesman,
2 July 2025
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In the gap between law and emancipation, white landowners reaped profits, and Black families remained in bondage, unaware of the paper promises made in Washington.—
Sughnen Yongo,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Serfdom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serfdom. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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