Word Confusion: Adversary vs Enemy vs Foe vs Opponent

Posted March 30, 2023 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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This word confusion adversary vs enemy vs foe vs opponent actually is a follow-on from
antagonist (as a writing tip) and an exploration of antagonist vs protagonist (as a word confusion).

And all five words mean the same thing. They all mean opposition, some of it hostile in all instances and other times hostile in certain situations, such as court, politics, or games.

Naturally, this being English, there are nuances:

Adversary – may not be an enemy; may engage in a friendly competition
Enemy – has contempt for the other and wants to harm them; does not engage in friendly competitions
Foe – the antonym of friend, someone who used to be your friend
Opponent – someone who is against your beliefs or is the other side in a team or group

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Adversary	Enemy	Foe	Opponent
Boys Playing Chess on the Street, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, by Adam Jones is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — A friendly game with the boys temporary adversaries.	Bücherverbrennung, 1933, Opernplatz, Berlin, by Georg Pahl is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license and is courtesy of the German Federal Archives, via Wikimedia Commons. — Book burning, any kind of censorship, is the enemy of civilization.	Liz Cheney in her 116th Congress official portrait by US House Office of Photography is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — An admirable woman who stands up for truth and decency, the foe of too many idiotic Republicans.	Opponents in Soccer by oto444 is in the public domain, via PxHere.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective; Noun Plural for the noun: adversaries	Adjective; Noun Plural for the noun: enemies	Abbreviation; Noun Plural for the noun: foes	Adjective; Noun Plural for the noun: opponents
Adjective: [Another term for adversarial] Involving or characterized by conflict or opposition Opposed Hostile [Law; of a trial or legal procedure] In which the parties in a dispute have the responsibility for finding and presenting evidence Noun: One’s opponent in a contest, conflict, or dispute [the Adversary] The Devil	Adjective: Belonging to a hostile power or to any of its nationals [Obsolete] Inimical Ill-disposed Noun: A person who feels hatred for, fosters harmful designs against, or engages in antagonistic activities against another Adversary Opponent [the enemy; treated as singular or plural noun] A hostile nation or its armed forces or citizens, especially in time of war A thing that harms, weakens something else, or is prejudicial [the Enemy] The Devil Satan	Abbreviation: [FoE] Friends of the Earth [F.O.E.] Fraternal Order of Eagles Noun: [Literary; Formal] An enemy or opponent A person who feels enmity, hatred, or malice toward another A military enemy A hostile army A person belonging to a hostile army or nation An opponent in a game or contest Adversary A person who is opposed in feeling, principle, etc., to something A thing that is harmful to or destructive of something	Adjective: Being opposite, as in position Opposing Adverse Antagonistic [Obsolete] Situated in front [Anatomy] Bringing parts together or into opposition, as a muscle Noun: Someone who competes against or fights another in a contest, game, or argument Rival or adversary A person who disagrees with or resists a proposal or practice
Examples:
Adjective: He hated the confrontations of adversary politics. Industry and government had an adversary relationship. One has to consider the reviewer’s presumed adversary relationship to his subject. Equality between prosecution and defense is essential in an adversary system of justice. Noun: Davis beat his old adversary in the quarterfinals. Satan means adversary in Hebrew. He was a worthy adversary.	Adjective: We found quite a bit of enemy property. The enemy’s fleet was approaching in a hostile manner. Seven enemy aircraft were spotted. Noun: They were the traditional enemies of his tribe. Nigel made many enemies. This man was her sworn enemy. The enemy shot down four helicopters. The army attacked the enemy at dawn. Let’s make up and stop being enemies. His unbridled ambition is his worst enemy. Routine is the enemy of art. The Enemy is all around us. We must be vigilant.	Abbreviation: FoE was established in 1969 to campaign for a better awareness of and response to environmental problems. The F.O.E. is an international non-profit organization making human life more desirable by lessening its ills and promoting peace, prosperity, gladness, and hope. The F.O.E. was founded in February, 1898 by six theatre owners gathered in a Seattle shipyard to discuss a musician’s strike. Noun: We must join forces against our common foe. He remained a bitter foe to this day. She was an old political foe. He was a foe to progress in civil rights. Sloth is the foe of health. Chocolate and Coca Cola are my foes, dang it.	Adjective: They stood poised as opponent armies. The vital difference between the game played with living men and that in which inanimate pieces are used, lies in the fact that while in the latter the mere placing of a piece upon a square occupied by an opponent piece terminates the move, in the former the two pieces thus brought together engage in a duel for possession of the square” (Burroughs, chapt 17). “We are to consider enemies as men opponent to peace and justice, and to these they are by warrs to be reduced; And no other ends in the pursuite of enemies by sword and hostile Acts are to be sought for […]” (Bland, p 25). “Young Ithacus advanc’d, defies the foe, Poising his lifted lance in act to throw: The savage renders vain the wound decreed, And springs impetuous with opponent speed!” (Homer). “Her sympathizing Lover takes his Stand High on th’ opponent Bank […]” (Thomson, p 33). Opponent muscles are necessary to enable the thumb to be moved toward a finger of the same hand. Noun: He beat his opponent by a landslide margin. He was an opponent of the economic reforms. He was an opponent of gun control. The news will delight opponents of GM foods.
Derivatives:
Adverb: adversarially, nonadversarial Noun: adversariness, adversity	Adjective: enemylike Noun: nonenemies, nonenemy	DERIVE	Adjective: opposing Noun: opponency, opposer, opposition
History of the Word:
Middle English from the Old French adversarie, from the Latin adversarius meaning opposed, opponent, from adversus (see adverse).	Middle English from the Old French enemi, from the Latin inimicus, from in- (not) + amicus (friend).	Old English fāh meaning hostile and gefā meaning enemy, is of West Germanic origin.	Late 16th century, denoting a person opening an academic debate by proposing objections to a philosophical or religious thesis, is from the Latin opponent- meaning setting against, from the verb opponere, from ob- (against) + ponere (place).

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Adversary vs Enemy vs Foe vs Opponent

Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.

Apple Dictionary.com

Bland, Francis. The Souldiers March to Salvation, York. Opponent. Wikipedia. 18 Mar 2023. Web. 29 Mar 2023. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/opponent>.

Burroughs, Edgar Rice. The Chessmen of Mars. Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy: 2020. <https://amzn.to/3nx9589>. Ebook.

Dictionary.com: adversary, enemy, foe, opponent

The Free Dictionary: adversary; enemy, foe, opponent

Homer. Elijah Fenton (trans in 1726). Alexander Pope (trans in 1760). The Odyssey of Homer. Ktoczyta.pl: 2019. <https://amzn.to/40s91Vw>. Ebook.

Thomson, James. “Spring. A Poem.” A. Millar, London: 1768. Gale ECCO: 2018. <https://amzn.to/3FX27Q8>. Print.

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