serfhood
/sɜrfhʊd/
noun
- The condition or status of being a serf (a peasant bound to work on a lord's estate in feudal society).
- Historians study serfhood to understand the economic systems of medieval Europe.
- The abolition of serfhood in Russia in 1861 freed millions of peasants.
- Life under serfhood meant long hours of labor with little personal freedom.
- A state of complete subjugation or servitude, often used figuratively.
- The novel explores the serfhood of the human spirit under a tyrannical regime.
- The workers felt trapped in a modern serfhood, unable to leave their low-paying jobs.
- Some critics argue that debt can create a kind of financial serfhood.