Words / C2

NEM-uh-sis/ˈneməsɪs/

Nemesis is the rival or force that brings you down, or inescapable payback (literary): meet your nemesis, the nemesis of the scheme. Enemy (already in the dictionary) is everyday and wider; a rival is a competitor, not automatically your undoing. Nemesis was also a goddess of retribution. Do not call a fair audit a nemesis to make the minute sound like a myth.

Meaning

A long-standing rival who brings defeat; also inescapable retribution (literary).

Examples

• “The appendix was the slogan’s nemesis: the n was empty.”
• “Enemy is everyday (already in the dictionary). A rival may lose to you next year. Retribution is the payback sense. An auditor with a checklist is not fate. An empty cell that kills the claim is nemesis enough.”

Good to know

Undoing; the rival who defeats you. Everyday: enemy / rival. Also: inescapable payback. A fair check is not a curse.

Near in meaning

rival

New