as in slaves
a person in the past who belonged to a low social class and who lived and worked on land owned by another person
Medieval serfs who tended land owned by a lord.
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 serfs
Slaves, serfs, peasants, and wage workers mostly understood that what was being struck was a hammer blow on their behalf.
—
Jack Sheehan
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
Jack Sheehan
september 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for serfs
Noun
-
Originally a Dutch vessel, the Zorg had been captured by a British captain and heavily overloaded with slaves.—
The Week UK,
TheWeek,
8 Jan. 2026
-
In the subsequent testimony, Médor claimed that the only way to stop these poisonings was for enslavers to stop promising slaves their estate would free them after their death.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The servants worked on Christmas Day and would have the next day off to go visit their own families.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
24 Dec. 2025
-
But, tensions and class struggles keep everyone, including the servants, on edge, all leading up to a mysterious murder.—
Keith Langston,
PEOPLE,
15 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Serfs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serfs. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
