frenemy
/ˈfɹɛ.nɪ.mi/
"frenemy" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“frenemy” is uncommon English (frequency #93,713 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #93,713
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend.
Corpus desk
Index EN-frenemy · frenemy · English
frenemy · rank #93,713 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #93,713
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH forefather
Nearest frequency peer: forefather (-2 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “frenemy”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Fluxus
Fluxus
6,294 corpus weight
- forbear
forbear
6,291 corpus weight
- forefather
forefather
6,290 corpus weight
- frenemy
frenemy
6,288 corpus weight
- frontiersman
frontiersman
6,284 corpus weight
- Fulda
Fulda
6,281 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “frenemy” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | frenemy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɹɛ.nɪ.mi/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #93,713 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “frenemy” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
frenemy is uncommon English at frequency #93,713 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfɹɛ.nɪ.mi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for frenemy in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 wri… The correct English form is frenemy, spelled F-R-E-N-E-M-Y.
Definition
- 1Someone who has traits of an enemy and a friend.
- 2A fair-weather friend who is also a rival.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how frenemy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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…
Another enemy / Not even a frenemy.
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).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "frenemy", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "frenemy". Here's where to go from here.
- Usage frequency rank #93,713 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.