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.
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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
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For their part, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere each worked hard to persuade Irishmen, Hessians, Indigenous people, and former slaves to defect to the patriot side.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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The film, written by Barbosa alongside Werner Salles, is set in 1695 and sees a family of slaves organize a rebellion to flee in search of the utopian Quilombo dos Palmares following a call from the spiritual helm.—
Rafa Sales Ross,
Variety,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The journalists who rushed to the scene managed to jot down the names of about a dozen—the VIPs (there were three members of parliament on the train that day, which was a factor in the disaster) and a couple of servants.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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Some of the girls were hired as servants in the homes of higher-status Burghers, though Rustin refused on principle to consider it.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Serfs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serfs. Accessed 29 Nov. 2025.
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