enemynoun
uk/ˈen.ə.mi/us/ˈen.ə.mi/B1 [ C ] a person who hates or opposes another person and tries to harm them or stop them from doing something:
He's made a few enemies in this company.
Max stole Lee's girlfriend and they've been enemies ever since.
political enemies
B2 [ C usually singular ] a country, or the armed forces of a country, that is at war with another country:
The enemy had succeeded in stopping our supplies from getting through.
an attack by enemy aircraft
enemy forces/territory
the enemy of sth literary
something that harms something else:
Familiarity is the enemy of desire.
More examples
- The commandos made a daring raid on the enemy.
- Attacks by enemy aircraft forced the tanks to retreat from the city.
- The troops had camouflaged themselves so effectively that the enemy didn't notice them approaching.
- It was strange to see the two former enemies shaking hands and slapping each other on the back.
- They were deadly enemies at school, but now they seem to get on much better.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Enemies & rivals
- adversary
- antagonist
- arch-enemy
- foe
- frenemy
- nemesis
- opponent
- rival
- scalp
- sworn enemy
- them
- them and us idiom