as in clown
a person of low social status
Those snobs treat anyone who lives on the "wrong" side of town like an insignificant peasant.
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Recent Examples of peasant
The tighter scope and folksy approach — from a score with more spare acoustic guitar than sweeping orchestral numbers and an abundance of drab peasant rags over plush regal garb — is refreshing, at first.
—
Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2026
German troops and local peasants hauling military vehicles across a river bank near Moscow, 1941.
—Peter Suciu, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Because of France’s social structure, the bulk of the financial strain fell to its peasants, while the top 1% was virtually exempt from paying taxes.
—Serena Turner, Vanity Fair, 29 Dec. 2025
In Bulgaria, village music was typically sung by peasants while tending to agriculture and husbandry; at weddings; and to express national pride.
—Emma Madden, Pitchfork, 21 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for peasant
Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2026
German troops and local peasants hauling military vehicles across a river bank near Moscow, 1941.
—Peter Suciu, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Because of France’s social structure, the bulk of the financial strain fell to its peasants, while the top 1% was virtually exempt from paying taxes.
—Serena Turner, Vanity Fair, 29 Dec. 2025
In Bulgaria, village music was typically sung by peasants while tending to agriculture and husbandry; at weddings; and to express national pride.
—Emma Madden, Pitchfork, 21 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for peasant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peasant
Noun
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Deep cherry red, black, and white come together to create a whimsical world of dice, cards, sad clowns, and a ticking pocketwatch.—
Samantha Brash,
InStyle,
8 Feb. 2026
-
These clowns don't even have the courage of their pathetic White supremacist convictions.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Marlowe, the son of a poor Canterbury cobbler, and Shakespeare, the son of a Stratford glover and alderman, were both unlikely artistic geniuses, provincials in a nation in which social class was rigidly fixed.—
Heller McAlpin,
Christian Science Monitor,
10 Sep. 2025
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Sanders is a Catholic priest and former Augustinian provincial in California and lives in the Augustinian community in North Park.—
Gary Sanders,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 May 2025
Noun
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Soon there was an altercation at the front desk, when a Haitian upbraided the American peons about not getting her free stuff fast enough.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
8 Oct. 2025
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Not only does the peon and con man Tom end up refashioning himself as the rich and carefree Dickie, but Highsmith’s novel itself was a retelling of Henry James’s The Ambassadors.—
Hillary Kelly,
The Atlantic,
19 Apr. 2024
Noun
-
Carrie raves to Seema about her creative connection with Duncan, and during another writing session, Duncan helps Carrie with her faulty printer and gawks at her closet full of designer dresses and shoes.—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
31 July 2025
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Here, the blurring is visual: Sometimes Leonard floats into the past looking like Gere, who wears the character without a shred of self-protection as the lens gawks at his raw skin.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The film specifically hones in on a 2021 expedition involving Icelandic mountaineer John Snorri Sigurjónsson, as well as the Pakistani father-son team of Ali and Sajid Sadpara, who set out to be the first to summit the world’s second-highest mountain, K2.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
5 Feb. 2026
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Just like Eddie Bauer, those mountaineers in the ’90s wanted a jacket with excellent warmth-to-weight ratio that could also handle the rigors of climbing.—
Graham Averill,
Outside,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
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It is centred around a striking building topped with turf, a nod to Iceland’s traditional architecture, with aqueduct-like arches and an angular timber roof inside—a little Hobbit-like, a little sci-fi rustic.—
Rick Jordan,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Feb. 2026
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Neither modish nor cookie-cutter rustic in aesthetic, the hotel, tucked away off the main street in the village of Malfa, feels like a genuine home, where old framed maps, ceramics, pots, and paintings, along with other antiques, have been collected over the years.—
Rosalyn Wikeley,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Peasant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peasant. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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