Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A principal enemy.
  • noun The Devil; Satan. Used with the.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A chief enemy; specifically, Satan, the devil.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A principal enemy. Specifically, Satan, the grand adversary of mankind.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a principal enemy

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From arch- + enemy

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Examples

  • In honor of the holiday, Hawaii Five-0 executive producer Peter Lenkov is giving fans a gift — the introduction of the villainous Wo Fat, Steve McGarrett's archenemy from the original 1968 — 1980 series.

    Keck's Exclusives: Hawaii Five-0 Brings Back a Big Killer 2010

  • “Toby Mawer … isn’t he the fellow you called your archenemy?”

    A Hellion in Her Bed Sabrina Jeffries 2010

  • “Toby Mawer … isn’t he the fellow you called your archenemy?”

    A Hellion in Her Bed Sabrina Jeffries 2010

  • “Toby Mawer … isn’t he the fellow you called your archenemy?”

    A Hellion in Her Bed Sabrina Jeffries 2010

  • Sending Tanya Vladimova in against his archenemy was a step he had longed to take years ago but could never bring himself to do.

    The Miko Lustbader, Eric 1984

  • How about for every WoW character above level 20, you get an "archenemy", an NPC who appears every once in a while to try and mess with you.

    Foozles I Have Known, Quests I Have Done 2008

  • (Yeah, I tell him everything, I tell him that I talk on the phone with his best friend or what he calls his "archenemy" for about 2 hours, I tell him that I spent five hours or so at the mall with another one of his good friends ... and NOTHING happens.)

    moschikat Diary Entry moschikat 2002

  • Who would have thought her archenemy was her next-door neighbor, Linda, Blake’s wife?

    Déjà Vu Suzetta Perkins 2009

  • Who would have thought her archenemy was her next-door neighbor, Linda, Blake’s wife?

    Déjà Vu Suzetta Perkins 2009

  • Who would have thought her archenemy was her next-door neighbor, Linda, Blake’s wife?

    Déjà Vu Suzetta Perkins 2009

Comments

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  • For a conversational tome, see arch enemy.

    October 23, 2007

  • Wasn't aware of the Satanic connotation.

    December 6, 2015