Phrase guide

enemy of the people

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: typically socialism or communism

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Calque of Latin hostis publicus (compare public enemy).

Across languages

Translations

38 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: عَدُوُّ الشَّعْبِ (ʕaduwwu aš-šaʕbi) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Armenian: ժողովրդի թշնամի (žoġovrdi tʻšnami) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Azerbaijani: xalq düşməni — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Belarusian: во́раг наро́да (vórah naróda) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Bulgarian: враг на наро́да (vrag na naróda) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Chinese Mandarin: 人民公敵 /人民公敌 (rénmín gōngdí) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Czech: nepřítel lidu — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Czech: nepřítelkyně lidu — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Dutch: volksvijand — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Finnish: kansanvihollinen — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • French: ennemi du peuple — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • French: ennemie du peuple — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Georgian: ხალხის მტერი (xalxis mṭeri) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • German: Volksfeind — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • German: Volksfeindin — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Greek: εχθρός του λαού (echthrós tou laoú) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Hungarian: népellenség — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Japanese: 人民の敵 (jinmin no teki) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Japanese: 民衆の敵 (minshū no teki) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Korean: 인민의 적 (inmin-ui jeok) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Korean: 민중의 적 (minjung-ui jeok) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Lithuanian: liaudies priešas — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Norwegian Bokmål: folkefiende — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Persian: دشمن خلق (došman-e xalq) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Polish: wróg ludu — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Romanian: inamic al poporului — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Romanian: dușman al poporului — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Russian: враг народа (vrag naroda) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Slovak: nepriateľ ľudu — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Slovak: nepriateľka ľudu — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Slovak: nepriateľkyňa ľudu — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Spanish: enemigo del pueblo — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Spanish: enemiga del pueblo — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Swedish: folkfiende — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Tatar: халык дошманы (xalıq doşmanı) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Turkish: halk düşmanı — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Ukrainian: во́рог наро́ду (vóroh naródu) — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group
  • Uzbek: xalq dushmani — a political or class opponent of the subgroup in power within a larger group