"frenemy" meaning in All languages combined

See frenemy on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˈfɹɛ.nɪ.mi/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav Forms: frenemies [plural]
Etymology: Blend of friend + enemy. Likely to have been invented independently multiple times. Etymology templates: {{blend|en|friend|enemy}} Blend of friend + enemy Head templates: {{en-noun}} frenemy (plural frenemies), {{tlb|en|sometimes|humorous}} (sometimes humorous)
  1. Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend. Tags: humorous, sometimes Categories (topical): People Translations (enemy pretending to be a friend): vryand (Afrikaans), الصَّدِيقُ العَدُوُّ (aṣ-ṣadīqu l-ʕaduwwu) [masculine] (Arabic), ennami [masculine] (French), aminimigo [masculine] (Portuguese), aminimiga [feminine] (Portuguese), amienemigo [masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-frenemy-en-noun-5YA9g1zp Disambiguation of People: 51 49 Disambiguation of 'enemy pretending to be a friend': 60 40
  2. A fair-weather friend who is also a rival. Tags: humorous, sometimes Categories (topical): People Translations (fair-weather friend who is also a rival): صَدِيقُ مَصْلَحَة (ṣadīqu maṣlaḥa) [masculine] (Arabic), meilleur ennemi [masculine] (French), aminimigo [masculine] (Portuguese), aminimiga [feminine] (Portuguese)
    Sense id: en-frenemy-en-noun-LXcANf1Y Disambiguation of People: 51 49 Categories (other): English blends, English entries with incorrect language header, English oxymorons, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Afrikaans translations, Terms with Arabic translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English blends: 29 71 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 23 77 Disambiguation of English oxymorons: 22 78 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 10 90 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 12 88 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 22 78 Disambiguation of Terms with Afrikaans translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with Arabic translations: 19 81 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 18 82 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 15 85 Disambiguation of 'fair-weather friend who is also a rival': 6 94
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: betrayer, double-crosser, traitor, palhole, friend-foe, frienemy Related terms: backfriend, love-hate, on-again, off-again

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "friend",
        "3": "enemy"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of friend + enemy",
      "name": "blend"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of friend + enemy. Likely to have been invented independently multiple times.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "frenemies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "frenemy (plural frenemies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sometimes",
        "3": "humorous"
      },
      "expansion": "(sometimes humorous)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "backfriend"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "love-hate"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "on-again, off-again"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1987, by Eric B. and Rakim (lyrics and music), “I Ain't No Joke”, in Paid in Full:",
          "text": "Another enemy / Not even a frenemy.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, New Radicals (lyrics and music), “You Get What You Give”:",
          "text": "Frienemies who when you're down ain't your friend",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, John Lanchester, The Debt to Pleasure.:",
          "text": "In France the Seine has all the advantages of Northernness (a quality underrated by our Gallic frenemy) but it is too fatally interested in Paris [...]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, Andrea Semple, The Ex-Factor, back cover:",
          "text": "You know when you dump a guy, only to discover years later that he's evolved into the perfect boyfriend—for the high-school frenemy who convinced you to dump him in the first place...?",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Joanne Meyer, Single Girl's Guide to Murder, back cover:",
          "text": "So why did we break up? Enter Blaize St. John, frenemy extraordinaire. She came, she saw, she stole my boyfriend.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 June 18, Time:",
          "text": "Gates made a rare and instructive appearance with his longtime frenemy Steve Jobs.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend."
      ],
      "id": "en-frenemy-en-noun-5YA9g1zp",
      "links": [
        [
          "enemy",
          "enemy"
        ],
        [
          "friend",
          "friend"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "sometimes"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "code": "af",
          "lang": "Afrikaans",
          "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
          "word": "vryand"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "aṣ-ṣadīqu l-ʕaduwwu",
          "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "الصَّدِيقُ العَدُوُّ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ennami"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "aminimigo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "aminimiga"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "60 40",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "amienemigo"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "29 71",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English blends",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "23 77",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English oxymorons",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 90",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 88",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Afrikaans translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Arabic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 85",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008 April 6, Erin Ehrlich, Six Characters in Search of a House (King of the Hill), season 12, episode 17, spoken by Bill Dauterive (Stephen Root):",
          "text": "So, we're definitely not going to be friends with Ferguson? Maybe we can be frenemies. A love-hate relationship's the next best thing.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fair-weather friend who is also a rival."
      ],
      "id": "en-frenemy-en-noun-LXcANf1Y",
      "links": [
        [
          "fair-weather friend",
          "fair-weather friend"
        ],
        [
          "rival",
          "rival"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "sometimes"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "6 94",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "ṣadīqu maṣlaḥa",
          "sense": "fair-weather friend who is also a rival",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "صَدِيقُ مَصْلَحَة"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 94",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "fair-weather friend who is also a rival",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "meilleur ennemi"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 94",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "fair-weather friend who is also a rival",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "aminimigo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "6 94",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "fair-weather friend who is also a rival",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "aminimiga"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɹɛ.nɪ.mi/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/22/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/22/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "betrayer"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "double-crosser"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "traitor"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "palhole"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "friend-foe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "frienemy"
    }
  ],
  "word": "frenemy"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English blends",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English humorous terms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English oxymorons",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Afrikaans translations",
    "Terms with Arabic translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "friend",
        "3": "enemy"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of friend + enemy",
      "name": "blend"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of friend + enemy. Likely to have been invented independently multiple times.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "frenemies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "frenemy (plural frenemies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sometimes",
        "3": "humorous"
      },
      "expansion": "(sometimes humorous)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "backfriend"
    },
    {
      "word": "love-hate"
    },
    {
      "word": "on-again, off-again"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1987, by Eric B. and Rakim (lyrics and music), “I Ain't No Joke”, in Paid in Full:",
          "text": "Another enemy / Not even a frenemy.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, New Radicals (lyrics and music), “You Get What You Give”:",
          "text": "Frienemies who when you're down ain't your friend",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, John Lanchester, The Debt to Pleasure.:",
          "text": "In France the Seine has all the advantages of Northernness (a quality underrated by our Gallic frenemy) but it is too fatally interested in Paris [...]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, Andrea Semple, The Ex-Factor, back cover:",
          "text": "You know when you dump a guy, only to discover years later that he's evolved into the perfect boyfriend—for the high-school frenemy who convinced you to dump him in the first place...?",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Joanne Meyer, Single Girl's Guide to Murder, back cover:",
          "text": "So why did we break up? Enter Blaize St. John, frenemy extraordinaire. She came, she saw, she stole my boyfriend.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 June 18, Time:",
          "text": "Gates made a rare and instructive appearance with his longtime frenemy Steve Jobs.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "enemy",
          "enemy"
        ],
        [
          "friend",
          "friend"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "sometimes"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008 April 6, Erin Ehrlich, Six Characters in Search of a House (King of the Hill), season 12, episode 17, spoken by Bill Dauterive (Stephen Root):",
          "text": "So, we're definitely not going to be friends with Ferguson? Maybe we can be frenemies. A love-hate relationship's the next best thing.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fair-weather friend who is also a rival."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fair-weather friend",
          "fair-weather friend"
        ],
        [
          "rival",
          "rival"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous",
        "sometimes"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɹɛ.nɪ.mi/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/22/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/22/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-frenemy.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "betrayer"
    },
    {
      "word": "double-crosser"
    },
    {
      "word": "traitor"
    },
    {
      "word": "palhole"
    },
    {
      "word": "friend-foe"
    },
    {
      "word": "frienemy"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "af",
      "lang": "Afrikaans",
      "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
      "word": "vryand"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "aṣ-ṣadīqu l-ʕaduwwu",
      "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "الصَّدِيقُ العَدُوُّ"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ennami"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "aminimigo"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "aminimiga"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "enemy pretending to be a friend",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "amienemigo"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "ṣadīqu maṣlaḥa",
      "sense": "fair-weather friend who is also a rival",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "صَدِيقُ مَصْلَحَة"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "fair-weather friend who is also a rival",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "meilleur ennemi"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "fair-weather friend who is also a rival",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "aminimigo"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "fair-weather friend who is also a rival",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "aminimiga"
    }
  ],
  "word": "frenemy"
}

Download raw JSONL data for frenemy meaning in All languages combined (5.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (4ba5975 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.