See frenemy in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "frenemyship"
}
],
"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"
]
},
{
"form": "frienemy",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"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": [],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
27,
34
]
],
"ref": "1987, by Eric B. and Rakim, “I Ain't No Joke”, in Paid in Full:",
"text": "Another enemy / Not even a frenemy.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
0,
9
]
],
"ref": "1998, Gregg Alexander, Rick Nowels, “You Get What You Give”, in Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too, performed by New Radicals:",
"text": "Frenemies who when you're down ain't your friend",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
95,
102
]
],
"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"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
124,
131
]
],
"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"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
47,
54
]
],
"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"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
63,
70
]
],
"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": "90 10",
"code": "af",
"lang": "Afrikaans",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"word": "vryand"
},
{
"_dis1": "90 10",
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "aṣ-ṣadīqu l-ʕaduwwu",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "الصَّدِيقُ العَدُوُّ"
},
{
"_dis1": "90 10",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "of women",
"roman": "sùliào jiěmèihuā",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"word": "塑料姐妹花"
},
{
"_dis1": "90 10",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "ennami"
},
{
"_dis1": "90 10",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "aminimigo"
},
{
"_dis1": "90 10",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "aminimiga"
},
{
"_dis1": "90 10",
"code": "ru",
"english": "zakljatyj drug",
"lang": "Russian",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "заклятый друг"
},
{
"_dis1": "90 10",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "amienemigo"
},
{
"_dis1": "90 10",
"alt": "ともなるてき",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "tomo naru teki",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"word": "友なる敵"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "38 62",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English blends",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "25 75",
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"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
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},
{
"_dis": "25 75",
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"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "11 89",
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{
"_dis": "11 89",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "23 77",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "26 74",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Afrikaans translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "20 80",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Arabic translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "21 79",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "26 74",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 84",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "26 74",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 84",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Russian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 84",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "25 75",
"kind": "other",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
76,
85
]
],
"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"
}
],
"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 Japanese translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations",
"en:People"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "frenemyship"
}
],
"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"
]
},
{
"form": "frienemy",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"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": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
27,
34
]
],
"ref": "1987, by Eric B. and Rakim, “I Ain't No Joke”, in Paid in Full:",
"text": "Another enemy / Not even a frenemy.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
0,
9
]
],
"ref": "1998, Gregg Alexander, Rick Nowels, “You Get What You Give”, in Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too, performed by New Radicals:",
"text": "Frenemies who when you're down ain't your friend",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
95,
102
]
],
"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"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
124,
131
]
],
"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"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
47,
54
]
],
"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"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
63,
70
]
],
"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": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
76,
85
]
],
"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"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "af",
"lang": "Afrikaans",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"word": "vryand"
},
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "aṣ-ṣadīqu l-ʕaduwwu",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "الصَّدِيقُ العَدُوُّ"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "of women",
"roman": "sùliào jiěmèihuā",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"word": "塑料姐妹花"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "ennami"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "aminimigo"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "aminimiga"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"english": "zakljatyj drug",
"lang": "Russian",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "заклятый друг"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "amienemigo"
},
{
"alt": "ともなるてき",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "tomo naru teki",
"sense": "Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend",
"word": "友なる敵"
},
{
"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 English (6.0kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-10 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (58c391d and f1c2b61). 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.