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View synonyms for

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.



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Word History and Origins

Origin of Public Enemy Number One1

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Actress Blake Lively was arguably the internet's public enemy number one for a couple of weeks in the summer.

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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.

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

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

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

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