Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Contemporary (2000–) ·1977
Frenemy
friend enemy
- Meaning
- A person who is ostensibly a friend but also a rival.
- Source words
- friend + enemy
- Coined by
- Jessica Mitford
- Year
- 1977
Background
Mitford used it in *The American Way of Life* as a Cold War joke — describing ambiguously allied nations. The interpersonal sense took off with *Sex and the City* (late 1990s).
Contemporary (2000–)
Faster coinage, faster canonisation. Brexit and podcast both reached the OED within a decade of first use — historically rapid. Social media has made visibility, not invention, the rate-limiting step.
Two words, one coinage.
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