as in peonage
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Recent Examples of serfdom
That book, Caliban and the Witch, traces the emergence of witch hunts throughout medieval Western Europe amid the transition from serfdom to proto-capitalism.
—
Hazlitt, 4 Sep. 2024
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
Russian officers still treated their peasant soldiers as little better than serfs (and serfdom would not be abolished in Russia for another 50 years).
—Antony Beevor, Foreign Affairs, 29 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for serfdom
Hazlitt, 4 Sep. 2024
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
Russian officers still treated their peasant soldiers as little better than serfs (and serfdom would not be abolished in Russia for another 50 years).
—Antony Beevor, Foreign Affairs, 29 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for serfdom
Recent Examples of Synonyms for serfdom
Noun
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Roughly 12% were of African descent — newly unshackled, technically free and already being legally recaptured under other names: peonage, vagrancy laws, convict leasing.—
Jack Hill,
Baltimore Sun,
17 May 2025
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Ryan Coogler didn’t want to hide anymore The film conveys two forms of peonage prominent in the 1930s South—labor arrangements not far removed from slavery.—
Adam Serwer,
The Atlantic,
2 May 2025
Noun
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Like the Lenten journey, the onset of Passover commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian servitude, the onset of a 40-year march homeward to the land of promise.—
Michael Pfleger,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
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The Ten Commandments are about God having taken the initiative to rescue the Hebrew people from forced servitude.—
James Coffin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Politico had recently published text messages leaked from a Young Republicans group chat that contained quips about Hitler, gas chambers, slavery, and rape.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
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Tarver, who is Black, took exception to Arena comparing tipped wages to slavery, a comparison that Johnson, who is also Black, has also made in the past.—
Jeremy Gorner,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The Seder plate includes foods like matzah (unleavened bread), bitter herbs, parsley dipped in saltwater and a sweet paste called charoset, which act as a visual representation of the Israelites’ enslavement and liberation from Egypt.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
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The list of 10 afflictions is found in the Book of Exodus, in which the Ten Plagues serve as a series of divine acts meant to force Pharaoh to free the Israelites from enslavement in Egypt.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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No one’s going to be stuck in a hand-over-hand situation like in a Tesla, with its horrid implementation of a yoke.—
Joel Feder,
The Drive,
2 Apr. 2026
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John holds on to the yoke, looking straight ahead, as alarms and red lights blare on the control panel.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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That power was built up over centuries partly to compensate for the humiliation, subjugation, and grievous bondage of Russia’s history, real and imagined.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
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The Seders take participants through the wondrous liberation of our ancestors from Egyptian bondage, while sharing the relevance and beauty of the age-old festival in our modern lives.—
Rabbi Moishe Kievman,
Sun Sentinel,
23 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Serfdom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serfdom. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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