Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for Public Enemy Number One

Public Enemy Number One

or Public Enemy Number 1, Public Enemy No. 1

noun

  1. (not in official use) a criminal at the top of the FBI's list of the ten most wanted criminals.
  2. a major menace to public safety, health, etc.:

    Cancer is Public Enemy Number One.



Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of Public Enemy Number One1

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35
Discover More

Example Sentences

In the late 1970s the Pistols, as the figureheads of the punk movement, were seen by many as public enemy number one, with their assaults on the music industry, the monarchy - and pretty much everything else.

From BBC

Another waste turned public enemy number one, CO2,is an industrial gaseous effluent with low economic value.

England ultimately lost the match on penalties, leading Beckham to become public enemy number one.

From BBC

The resulting article had the headline: “How Warner Bros. Discovery C.E.O. David Zaslav became public enemy number one in Hollywood.”

Bowers called Jews “public enemy number one,” according to a post read by an FBI agent, spoke approvingly of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi extermination of Jews, and shared an image that said “the only good Jew is a dead Jew.”

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


public enemypublic enterprise