public enemy

noun

1. a person or thing considered a danger or menace to the public, especially a wanted criminal widely sought by the F.B.I. and local police forces.

2. a nation or government with which one's own is at war.

public enemy

noun

1. a notorious person, such as a criminal, who is regarded as a menace to the public

Word History and Origins

Origin of public enemy¹

First recorded in 1750–60

Example Sentences

Along the way, Norman’s role in the saga made him golf’s public enemy No. 1.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The former Black Panther leader, who died in 2016, battled drug addiction during the Shakur family’s years in Marin City, Calif. There’s a moment in the book before the aspiring emcee and Public Enemy fan joins Bay Area funk-rap group Digital Underground in 1990, where he is invited fly out to Atlanta to become the chairman of a civil rights youth group, the New Afrikan People’s Organization.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She remembered her friends in middle school interrupting an afternoon to let her know about a massive gathering in the streets—hordes of people yelling “Fight the power!” as they marched through the heart of Bed-Stuy, filming a music video for the Public Enemy anthem that Do the Right Thing helped make famous.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The tradition was then briefly reawakened in the 1990s, as the War on Drugs began upending Black communities, by hip-hop acts like NWA, Public Enemy and my personal favorite, Tupac Shakur.

Read more on Salon

Tributes have started to come in with hip hop star Tyler the Creator posting a black and white photo and Flavor Flav from Public Enemy calling him an icon.

Read more on BBC