enemy
Americannoun
-
enemies
plural
-
a person who feels hatred for, fosters harmful designs against, or engages in antagonistic activities against another; an adversary or opponent.
- Synonyms:
- antagonist
- Antonyms:
- friend
-
an armed foe; an opposing military force.
The army attacked the enemy at dawn.
- Antonyms:
- ally
-
a hostile nation or state.
-
a citizen of such a state.
-
enemies, persons, nations, etc., that are hostile to one another.
Let's make up and stop being enemies.
-
something harmful or prejudicial.
His unbridled ambition is his worst enemy.
-
the Enemy, the Devil; Satan.
adjective
-
belonging to a hostile power or to any of its nationals.
enemy property.
-
Obsolete. inimical; ill-disposed.
noun
-
a person hostile or opposed to a policy, cause, person, or group, esp one who actively tries to do damage; opponent
-
-
an armed adversary; opposing military force
-
( as modifier )
enemy aircraft
-
-
-
a hostile nation or people
-
( as modifier )
an enemy alien
-
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something that harms or opposes; adversary
courage is the enemy of failure
Grammar
See collective noun.
Synonym Usage
Enemy, foe refer to a dangerous public or personal adversary. Enemy emphasizes the idea of hostility: to overcome the enemy; a bitter enemy. Foe, a more literary word, may be used interchangeably with enemy, but emphasizes somewhat more the danger to be feared from such a one: deadly foe; arch foe of humankind ( the Devil ).
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of enemy
First recorded in 1300–1350; Middle English enemi, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin inimicus “unfriendly,” equivalent to in- in- 3 + amicus “friendly, friend”; see amicable
Explanation
An enemy is a hostile opponent, like your sworn Scrabble enemy who vows to get revenge on your last triple word score. An enemy is a person who actively opposes someone or something. The Latin word inimicus, meaning "hostile, unfriendly," is the root of enemy, and it comes from the prefix in-, or "not," and amicus, "friend:" an enemy is "not a friend." When two armies fight each other, they both think of the opposing army as the enemy.
Vocabulary lists containing enemy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The sightings were treated as suspicious by the U.K. military, which deployed teams with drone-jamming equipment to the bases, including the Orcus antidrone system, which can remotely take control of an enemy drone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The individual, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there were "small pockets of the enemy forces still resisting and trying to create trouble".
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
So, going forward, he decided to get real, endeavoring to make a “serious film about what it meant to become paranoid and have this feeling that there’s always an enemy following you.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
First released on the Xbox 360, Gears helped to popularise "cover-shooter" gameplay, which encouraged players to shelter from enemy attacks.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
That’s how it is when you’re scared—you start to see your enemy everywhere.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
If former senior intelligence officers can offer their own consulting businesses without restriction, he added, “this opens a potential door for our enemies to try to penetrate.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
At the same time, bacteria are not simply enemies to eliminate.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
Later sections where you rely on even cruder tech to spot enemies ratchet up the tension further, at the expense of making the gameplay much slower.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
New agencies were created out of whole cloth to fight the supposed invasion of enemies who didn’t bother to wear uniforms.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
Nico stood at the edge of the group, eyeing the passing pedestrians as if they might be enemies.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
