as in peonage
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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
The pandemic decreased competition among laborers, raising wages and putting the oppressive system of serfdom in a death spiral.
—Cody Cassidy, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for serfdom
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
The pandemic decreased competition among laborers, raising wages and putting the oppressive system of serfdom in a death spiral.
—Cody Cassidy, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for serfdom
Recent Examples of Synonyms for serfdom
Noun
-
The Black community’s relationship with growing food is colored by exploitive practices, from slavery to sharecropping, tenant farming and peonage, or debt servitude.—
Lyndsay C. Green,
Detroit Free Press,
27 Nov. 2024
-
Further, this much control over the autonomy of an athlete’s rights to their own NIL rights combined with a financial obligation could also trigger scrutiny under the 13th Amendment, which, in addition to abolishing slavery, placed prohibitions on peonage (i.e., working against your will).—
Joe Sabin,
Forbes,
10 Oct. 2024
Noun
-
The people are crying out for relief from medical servitude and the Trump administration keeps doubling down on the oppression.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2025
-
The main character escapes servitude and arrives at a space station called the Eye, where different factions are fighting for both survival and freedom.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Lewis was working within the Neoclassical mode, recycling the stylings of ancient Greece for a new era concerned with enforcing the abolition of slavery.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
1 Apr. 2025
-
Vanessa Northington Gamble, a physician and medical historian at George Washington University, says Crumpler’s story is part of a lineage of Black healers dating back to the time of slavery.—
Ella Jeffries,
Smithsonian Magazine,
31 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
But Knox, who was wrongly imprisoned during her 2007 study abroad semester in Perugia, Italy, twice convicted, and ultimately exonerated for the murder of her housemate Meredith Kercher, may never climb out from under the yoke of public opinion.—
Rachel Brodsky,
Rolling Stone,
24 Mar. 2025
-
That’s a world in which Democrats might be able to actually pare back the GOP majority to 51 and embolden Republican senators who are already chafing under the MAGA yoke.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
14 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
This economic bondage, called sharecropping, was a system by which tenant farmers rented land from large landowners.—
David Cason,
The Conversation,
7 Mar. 2025
-
Leigh Bowery, the fashion icon and transgressive performance artist, designed several costumes (assless slacks; sparkly bondage suits) for Atlas’s video pieces and often appeared on-screen as a kind of spiritual hype man.—
Beatrice Loayza,
ARTnews.com,
6 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Serfdom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serfdom. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share