peons
Bottom-rung laborers
Peons are workers of the lowest rank, especially laborers bound by debt or obligation to their employers.
The term originated in Spanish colonial systems where workers were tied to land or masters.
In modern use, peon usually appears figuratively for anyone doing menial work or occupying the bottom of a hierarchy: The executives flew first class while the peons sat in coach.
The tone is often self-deprecating or sardonic.
Feudal bound labor
- feudalismLand-for-service social structure
- indenturedContracted to serve
- encomiendaForced indigenous labor grant
- haciendaSpanish-speaking country estate
caste · colonialism · sharecropping · vassals · subjugation · tribute · manorialism · bondsmen
Strenuous, prolonged effort
- drudgeryHard, boring work
- blue-collarManual labor workforce
- menialLowly and unskilled
- unskilledLacking acquired competence
workforce · farmhand · coolie · bracero · migrant · sweatshop · exploitation · wages
Person of lower rank
- lackeyServile follower or minion
- minionServile subordinate
- flunkyServile subordinate
- servantOne employed to serve
hireling · gopher · inferior · expendable · disposable · faceless · anonymous · overlooked
serfdom
Feudal bound labor
- feudalismLand-for-service social structure
- indenturedContracted to serve
- encomiendaForced indigenous labor grant
hacienda · caste · colonialism · sharecropping · vassals · subjugation · tribute · manorialism · bondsmen · overlords
toil
Strenuous, prolonged effort
- drudgeryHard, boring work
- blue-collarManual labor workforce
- menialLowly and unskilled
unskilled · workforce · farmhand · coolie · bracero · migrant · sweatshop · exploitation · wages · backbreaking
underling
Person of lower rank
servant · hireling · gopher · inferior · expendable · disposable · faceless · anonymous · overlooked · powerless
minions
Obedient subordinates of power
swarm · zerg · rush · spam · expendable · cannon-fodder · army · horde · summons · NPCs
- underlingsunderling, underlings, subordinate, minions, minion
- underclasspoor, pauper, peasant, homeless, serf
- populacethe masses, common folk, ordinary people, general public, hoi polloi
- social classupper class, middle class, lower class, working class, social class
- labor historyAFL-CIO, workers, labor movement, CIO, laborers
- Nobodiesnobodies, nonentities, unknowns, zeroes, ciphers
peonsmasters
Those with dominion
overlords · bosses · rulers · executives · lords
peonsplutocrats
Rulers through financial power
oligarchs · tycoons · moguls · billionaires · magnates
peonsslaveholders
Owners of enslaved people
landowners · plantation owners · feudal lords · oligarchs · robber barons