as in peonage
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Recent Examples of serfdom
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
All designed to warn us that behind the veneer of jurisprudential poise and Middle American decency, Amy Coney Barrett is some theocratic medievalist monster, primed to send women back to the kitchen, African-Americans back to the plantations, and the country back to serfdom.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 19 Oct. 2020
Birmingham sketches out Russia’s mid-century byzantine chaos with a deft hand, up to the point in 1849 when Dostoevsky was sentenced to death for associating with the Petrashevsky Circle, a progressive group that advocated the ending of serfdom and other measures inimical to czarist autocracy.
—Washington Post, 3 Dec. 2021
See all Example Sentences for 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
All designed to warn us that behind the veneer of jurisprudential poise and Middle American decency, Amy Coney Barrett is some theocratic medievalist monster, primed to send women back to the kitchen, African-Americans back to the plantations, and the country back to serfdom.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 19 Oct. 2020
Birmingham sketches out Russia’s mid-century byzantine chaos with a deft hand, up to the point in 1849 when Dostoevsky was sentenced to death for associating with the Petrashevsky Circle, a progressive group that advocated the ending of serfdom and other measures inimical to czarist autocracy.
—Washington Post, 3 Dec. 2021
See all Example Sentences for serfdom
Recent Examples of Synonyms for serfdom
Noun
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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
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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
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The legislation also removes language authorizing slavery and involuntary servitude as possible criminal punishments.—
Kinsey Crowley,
USA TODAY,
1 Jan. 2025
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And taken alongside the failure of Prop. 6, which would have ended involuntary servitude in prisons, Prop. 36 was taken as a signal that Californians attitudes toward crime are changing.—
Annika Merrilees,
Sacramento Bee,
16 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The former seeks to give admissions preferences to descendants of slavery in all private and public institutions of higher education.—
Wenyuan Wu,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Jan. 2025
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Marcus Garvey was born in Jamaica in 1887, 53 years after the abolishment of slavery in the country.—
Meagan Jordan,
Rolling Stone,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The collection also includes minimalist women’s shirts, like the Club Shirt with subtle western yoke details, and a denim work shirt.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
31 Jan. 2025
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What if language is less like a yoke than like a wind, nudging us in various directions?—
Manvir Singh,
The New Yorker,
23 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Gaiman's representatives have responded to some outlets, claiming the incidents were consensual and instances of practicing BDSM (bondage, discipline/dominance, submission/sadism and masochism).—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA TODAY,
13 Jan. 2025
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Pavlovich’s allegations, like others against Gaiman, often involve acts associated with BDSM (bondage, domination, sadism, and masochism).—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
13 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near serfdom
Cite this Entry
“Serfdom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serfdom. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.
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