public enemy number one
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.60 in modern English
35
Scrabble Score
20
Letters
5
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person who ranks highest on the federal government's prioritized list of wanted criminal fugitives.
American usage; Dated; Uncountable
noun
A person, organization, or other object considered to be particularly menacing, harmful, or loathsome.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "John Dillinger, America's Public Enemy No. 1 and the most notorious criminal of recent times, was shot and killed at 10:40 o'clock tonight by Federal agents."
- ""Sure you never heard of him?" he asked incredulously. "Never," I said flatly. "You must have," he argued. "Why Hamilton was a Public Enemy No. 1 at one time.""
- "The fact is that Reaganomics slowed down the breakneck economy and succeeded in defeating public enemy number one, runaway inflation."
- "The Isle of Man's public enemy number one—the rabbit—can breathe easier today. The price on its head, or tail, was revoked."
- "As sugar has become public enemy number one in the battle against obesity, many Americans have fed their sweet tooth with artificially sweetened diet drinks."
- "“I wasn’t a researcher anymore, I was Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler,” Mr. Moreno said. “I have become, in one week, Public Enemy No. 1.”"
Usage
- American usage
- Dated
- Uncountable