NEMESES Synonyms: 109 Similar and Opposite Words

nemeses

noun

plural of nemesis

as in vigilantes

one who inflicts punishment in return for an injury or offense Batman is the Joker's main nemesis and always foils his wicked plots

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in punishments

suffering, loss, or hardship imposed in response to a crime or offense social ostracism was once society's nemesis for those who defied its sexual mores

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in curses

a source of harm or misfortune irrationality is the nemesis of democracy, for good government depends upon the wisdom of the electorate

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of nemeses Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeton are workplace nemeses who serve as executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. — Kayla Olson, PEOPLE, 16 June 2026 The actors played each other's nemeses in the comedy series created by and starring Seth Rogen. — Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 9 June 2026 The New York Yankees continue to be the Kansas City Royals’ nemeses. — Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 25 May 2026 Various nemeses and side characters enter the fray, from Jim’s archenemy (and also Insta-famous) Pavel to the scally with a sneaker-sniffing fetish who guides Jim and Lucien to their next destination. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 17 May 2026 Yura’s nemeses, who are part of her elderly father’s underwater court, seem to be after her magical flute, an ancient device that controls their kingdom’s dragon. — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 1 May 2026 So have their nemeses in the LAPD. — Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2026 Pete McBride Advertisement Five and half decades ago, two Colorado River nemeses, Floyd Dominy of the Bureau of Reclamation (pro-dam) and David Brower of the Sierra Club (anti-dam), did just that. — Pete McBride, Time, 27 Feb. 2026 By fighting for fairness and equality, while simultaneously asking us to care for others with compassion and empathy (sharing this with our frenemies and nemeses will be hard, but valuable in teaching them to be kind). — Lisa Stardust, Refinery29, 30 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nemeses

Noun

No fanfare had attended its completion near what is now Santa Clarita in 1926, the better to avoid attention from Owens Valley vigilantes, who were known to dynamite aqueduct pipes as protest against the diversion of their river water.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026
The massacre devastated Wilmington’s flourishing Black middle class and sent a message of impunity to white vigilantes nationwide.

— Namara Smith, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of vigilantes

Noun

But the players argue the NCAA is using the transfer portal, and especially potential punishments for schools and coaches who recruit players outside of portal windows, to undermine the injunction.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Months after demoting six detectives and sergeants in a controversial investigation, the Prosper Police Department is reversing half of the punishments.

— Kelsy Mittauer, CBS News, 1 Aug. 2026

Definition of punishments

Noun

In other cases Hoodoo was used to counter the threat of curses, as in the practice of suspending bottles from a tree to trap any malevolent spirits or witches traveling in spirit form.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026
The cumulative impression of Alice that the book leaves is of someone moving serenely through life, meeting fond blessings and awful curses both with the same calm equanimity.

— Ian Penman, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of curses

Noun

Automated systems now make decisions and respond to threats at increasingly high speeds.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 12 Aug. 2026
Despite threats of a blockade of the Red Sea’s Bab-al-Mandeb strait from Iran’s Houthi allies, ship traffic has been flowing at a close-to-normal clip through that waterway in recent weeks.

— David Goldman, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of threats

Noun

The actresses play the delightful mother-daughter duo Angela and Ainsley — who are oftentimes the banes of Tommy's (Billy Bob Thornton) existence — in the Taylor Sheridan series.

— Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 28 Dec. 2025
But along with ready cash, the laissez-faire approach brought the banes of corruption, criminal infiltration, and rampant pollution.

— Charlie Campbell, Time, 15 Oct. 2025

Definition of banes

Noun

Those menaces to society take their street tactics with them behind bars and prey on each other.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 20 July 2026
Her recent work revives a dreamy Renaissance style to show its absurd incompatibility with the raging, petulant menaces in whom the world’s power is concentrated.

— Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 14 June 2026