Nemesis

How to spell nemesis

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce nemesis

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does nemesis mean?

1. nounA long-standing rival or opponent who seems impossible to overcome.
2. nounThe agent or cause of someone's deserved downfall or punishment.

Nemesis in a sentence

• The rival firm had become his professional nemesis over two decades.

• His own reckless spending proved to be his nemesis.

• That steep final hill is the nemesis of every cyclist in the club.

• Unchecked arrogance was the nemesis of the ousted chief executive.

Where does nemesis come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes directly from the Greek nemesis, which originally meant 'distribution of what is due', built on the verb nemein, meaning 'to deal out' or 'to allot'. In Greek thought this sense of fair allotment shaded into the idea of righteous indignation against anyone who enjoyed too much good fortune, and Nemesis became the name of the goddess who handed out retribution to the proud and the over-lucky. English took the word in the sixteenth century, first as the personified goddess and then as a general term for an agent of downfall or just punishment. From there it drifted to its modern everyday meaning of an unbeatable rival or persistent opponent. Knowing that the middle syllables echo the goddess's name helps with the spelling, since the unstressed e and i sounds (nem-e-sis) are exactly where writers slip.

How the word is built

• nemes- (from Greek nemein: to distribute, allot, give what is due)
• -is (noun ending)