1
: a member of a European class of persons tilling the soil as small landowners or as laborers
This land was farmed by peasants for centuries.
also
: a member of a similar class elsewhere
2
: a usually uneducated person of low social status
They treated us like a bunch of peasants.
Examples of peasant in a Sentence
They treated us like a bunch of peasants.
Recent Examples on the Web
In El Salvador in the 1960s, Todd writes, peasants and workers joined with progressive Catholics and intellectuals to push against the country’s oligarchic rulers, known as the fourteen families.
—
Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 24 Feb. 2025
The average Joe had to phone in their orders like some medieval peasant.
—Trent Hoerr, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot pursued his nation to the killing fields to create only one peasant class.
—Lynn Dewoskin Covarrubias, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Feb. 2025
The film opens on a peasant couple summoning their son from a farm field.
—Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for peasant
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Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 24 Feb. 2025
The average Joe had to phone in their orders like some medieval peasant.
—Trent Hoerr, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot pursued his nation to the killing fields to create only one peasant class.
—Lynn Dewoskin Covarrubias, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Feb. 2025
The film opens on a peasant couple summoning their son from a farm field.
—Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for peasant
Cite this Entry
“Peasant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peasant. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
peasant
noun
peas·ant
ˈpez-ᵊnt 
1
: a European small farmer or farm laborer
2
: a member of a similar agricultural class elsewhere
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