nemesis

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈnɛməsəs/ UK /ˈnɛmɪsɪs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an inescapable agent of someone's downfall or a long-standing rival

The detective finally cornered his lifelong nemesis.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an inescapable agent of... rival adversaryarchenemydownfall retribution bane scourge

Opposites

ally friend champion

Word family

Related forms nemesisesnemeses

Simplified etymology

Nemesis comes from Greek and literally means “retribution.” It derives from nemein, “to give what is due,” and later developed the English sense of an agent or cause of someone’s downfall.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Nemesis (Νέμεσις), the goddess of retribution, from nemein ('to distribute, allot what is due').

Νέμεσις Ancient Greek némein Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# nemesis

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈnɛməsəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈnɛmɪsɪs/

## Meanings
1. an inescapable agent of someone's downfall or a long-standing rival

## Examples
- The detective finally cornered his lifelong nemesis.

## Synonyms
- rival
- adversary
- archenemy
- downfall
- retribution
- bane
- scourge

## Antonyms
- ally
- friend
- champion

## Related Forms
- nemesises
- nemeses

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: Νέμεσις
- Root: némein

## Etymology
From Ancient Greek Nemesis (Νέμεσις), the goddess of retribution, from nemein ('to distribute, allot what is due').

## AI Etymology
Nemesis is from Ancient Greek Nemesis (Νέμεσις), the goddess of retribution, from nemein ('to distribute, allot what is due'). Important recorded forms include Νέμεσις (Ancient Greek) and némein (Ancient Greek). The current sense covers an inescapable agent of someone's downfall or a long-standing rival. The wider family includes related words such as nemesises and nemeses.

## Topics
- People & Society

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