Synonyms Examples Word Origin
a person who feels enmity, hatred, or malice toward another; enemy: a bitter foe. a military enemy; hostile army. a person belonging to a hostile army or nation. an opponent in a game or contest; adversary: a political foe. a person who is opposed in feeling, principle, etc., to something: a foe to progress in civil rights. a thing that is harmful to or destructive of something: Sloth is the foe of health. Show More
Origin of foe before 900; Middle English foo, Old English fāh hostile,
gefāh enemy; cognate with
Old High German gifēh at war. See
feud1 Synonyms for foe 1 . See
enemy .
1, 3–5 . opponent, antagonist.
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for foes Contemporary Examples of foes But Brown had not been among those Johnson heard speak of the cops as foes .
Nevertheless, Grande manages to shoot her foes to smithereens.
For Nixon, it was the Watergate break-in, designed to filch political plans of his 1972 foes .
In fact, foes of abortion have opposed most every single public policy that contributes to lowering the abortion rate in America.
That perception is a much bigger problem for supporters of same-sex marriage than its foes .
Historical Examples of foes In the next scene Richard meets his foes , and at first plays the king.
With foes in front, and foes in our rear, our journey is like to be one of danger.
The truce of the water was over, but these foes did not meet again that night.
At one stroke of his sword Grant had cut apart the circle of his foes .
Quite otherwise, I call them not foes (as some would), but friends.
British Dictionary definitions for foes formal , or literary another word for enemy Show More
Word Origin for foe Old English fāh hostile; related to Old High German fēhan to hate, Old Norse feikn dreadful; see feud 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for foes n. Old English gefa "foe, enemy, adversary in a blood feud" (the prefix denotes "mutuality"), from fah "at feud, hostile," from Proto-Germanic *fakhaz (cf. Old High German fehan "to hate," Gothic faih "deception"), probably from PIE root *peig- "evil-minded, treacherous, hostile" (cf. Sanskrit pisunah "malicious," picacah "demon;" Greek pikros "bitter;" Lithuanian piktas "wicked, angry," pekti "to blame"). Weaker sense of "adversary" is first recorded c.1600.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
