frenemy
noun/ˈfɹɛ.nɪ.mi/
Etymology Blend of friend + enemy. Invented independently multiple times. Attested in 1952 without any scare quotes or self-referential apology, clearly suggesting that the writer expected his audience to be unsurprised by encountering the word, but used by other writers in 1979 and 1992 in ways that indicate that those writers considered it a nonce blend and expected that their audiences would view it that way too; these examples are evidence that the word existed for many decades during which it was not yet widely familiar or established (which it now is).
1
Humorous, Sometimes Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend.
- Painting with a bland stroke, hardly mixing color on palette or canvas, working neatly, quickly, deftly, and a bit hygienically—like an Old World gentleman—over his “spontaneous” projects—indeed, “tickling” his way along, to borrow frenemy Picasso's devastating verb—he [Henri Matisse] seems never to be deeply involved or even slightly carried away by his work.1952 February 9, Manny Farber, “Art”, in The Nation, volume 174, number 6, page 140:
- Another enemy / Not even a frenemy.1987, by Eric B. and Rakim, “I Ain't No Joke”, in Paid in Full:
4 more examples
- Frenemies who when you're down ain't your friend1998, Gregg Alexander, Rick Nowels, “You Get What You Give”, in Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too, performed by New Radicals:
- 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 […]2001, John Lanchester, The Debt to Pleasure.:
- 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...?2004, Andrea Semple, The Ex-Factor, back cover:
- So why did we break up? Enter Blaize St. John, frenemy extraordinaire. She came, she saw, she stole my boyfriend.2005, Joanne Meyer, Single Girl's Guide to Murder, back cover:
2
Humorous, Sometimes A fair-weather friend who is also a rival.
- 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.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):
- Derived terms
- frenemyship