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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Together with the Civil War Amendments, outlawing slavery and involuntary servitude and ensuring all citizens equal protection of the laws and due process of law, the Bill of Rights stands as a constant guardian of individual liberty.—
Liz Tracey,
JSTOR Daily,
25 Aug. 2025
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But perhaps the consequence was that some deeper servitude had been inflicted elsewhere.—
Rachel Cusk,
New Yorker,
24 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Since the end of enslavement, keeping up appearances had been of particular political import for Black women.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Aug. 2025
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As for the enslavement of my African ancestors, who literally built the economic infrastructure of America with forced, free labor, from 1619 to 1865—246 years—this section of the American journey was reduced to mere paragraphs.—
Gordon G. Chang,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Florida’s Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, announced on Wednesday that the state would end all vaccine mandates, likening them to slavery.—
Connor Greene,
Time,
3 Sep. 2025
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What was meant to be a reflective, thought-provoking discussion on slavery and human resilience was flattened into copy-paste commentary.—
Ashanty Rosario,
The Atlantic,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This dress has a seven-button front, double chest patch pockets, and a seamed back yoke.—
Jamie Allison Sanders,
People.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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In self-drive mode, the yoke wheel folds into the dashboard, and the center screen slides over to cover it; the pedals retract into the footwell.—
Brad Templeton,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Even for those in the North who didn’t care a damn for the four million held in brutal bondage, or those who wanted a soft, conciliatory approach, the war began to take on new and moral meaning.—
Jack Sheehan
September 4,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
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Senior staff taught various classes on clitoral stroking, oral sex, bondage, and more.—
Thessaly La Force,
New Yorker,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Serfdom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serfdom. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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