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
The peasants’ goal was to overturn serfdom and create a fairer society grounded on the Christian Bible.
—
Michael Bruening, The Conversation, 25 Feb. 2025
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
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
Michael Bruening, The Conversation, 25 Feb. 2025
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
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
-
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
-
Like the Lenten journey, the onset of Passover commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian servitude, the onset of a 40-year march homeward to the land of promise.—
Michael Pfleger,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
-
The Ten Commandments are about God having taken the initiative to rescue the Hebrew people from forced servitude.—
James Coffin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The French National Convention accepted this and abolished slavery throughout the empire.—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
In addition to the historic house and visitor center, the cottage hosts Students Opposing Slavery, a youth education program for students ages 14 to 24 that teaches both Lincoln’s legacy and contemporary issues of slavery.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
3 May 2026
Noun
-
Their joyous innocence depicts the newest generation of Black Americans who won’t contend with enslavement but will be forced to confront the terrors of Jim Crow.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Every play in the Century Cycle has its roots in the cataclysm of enslavement, but Joe Turner takes place with Reconstruction still close in the rearview.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
No one’s going to be stuck in a hand-over-hand situation like in a Tesla, with its horrid implementation of a yoke.—
Joel Feder,
The Drive,
2 Apr. 2026
-
John holds on to the yoke, looking straight ahead, as alarms and red lights blare on the control panel.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
If Yahweh, who delivered Israel from bondage and parted the Red Sea, intervenes too soon, some of us will be denied that choice (parable of the wheat and the tares).—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
24 Apr. 2026
-
There was even a Children’s Crusade in 1212 that turned out badly when some 30,000 children ended up dead or in bondage.—
Peter Lucas,
Boston Herald,
18 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Serfdom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serfdom. Accessed 7 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
