spoon-feed
Americanverb (used with object)
-
spoon-feeds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spoon-fed,
past participle, past
-
spoon-feeding
present participle
verb
-
to feed with a spoon
-
to overindulge or spoil
-
to provide (a person) with ready-made opinions, judgments, etc, depriving him of original thought or action
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
spoon-feedsimple
-
spoon-feedssimple
-
have spoon-fedperfect
-
has spoon-fedperfect
-
am spoon-feedingprogressive
-
are spoon-feedingprogressive
-
is spoon-feedingprogressive
-
have been spoon-feedingperfect progressive
-
has been spoon-feedingperfect progressive
Past
-
spoon-fedsimple
-
had spoon-fedperfect
-
was spoon-feedingprogressive
-
were spoon-feedingprogressive
-
had been spoon-feedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of spoon-feed
First recorded in 1605–15
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Staff started out by wearing bear masks and animal furs, then crawling into the enclosure to spoon-feed the cubs formula.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
"I wanted someone to spoon-feed me information in a format that was easy."
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2021
Her Little Sisters of the Sick Poor are prime examples, as the name suggests: They spoon-feed the toothless, comfort the grieving, scrub floors, clean wounds, change diapers, empty bedpans.
From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2021
The show’s smartest decision, other than Byrne’s casting, may be its tendency to evoke rather than spoon-feed.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2021
Better let them go to hell in their own way than attempt to spoon-feed them.
From Ireland as It Is And as It Would be Under Home Rule by Robert John Buckley
She spoon-feeds Knight as his condition worsens, and he eventually becomes her loyal friend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
In another scene, his mum, Irene, spoon-feeds him.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2022
Instead, it spoon-feeds students dry accounts of Chinese law and the Politburo Standing Committee, which are “very abstract for the students,” said the teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 7, 2022
Mantel never spoon-feeds us, never makes it particularly easy.
From New York Times ● Sep. 23, 2022
The young woman next to her spoon-feeds the old woman rice gruel.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Surely, the viewer can put two and two together on their own to decipher a deeper meaning within the text without the message being spoon-fed to them.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2025
The broadcasters are spoon-fed a talking point while noting that the Bears have lost nine games in a row, including all three under interim coach Thomas Brown.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2024
Other images include Susan being spoon-fed by her young granddaughter and her lying on her bed having forgotten how to dress herself.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2024
One of them, Shamim Salim, 26, was being spoon-fed soup by a well-wisher.
From Reuters ● Apr. 26, 2023
I suppose he had felt like a baby, being spoon-fed.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
Warsh argued that by not spoon-feeding markets, the Fed hears from what he called a very accomplished economist—the internals of financial markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
In her own novels, NDiaye can’t be accused of spoon-feeding readers.
From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2023
You just have to look past the people that are spoon-feeding you information.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2022
Meta has faced intense scrutiny in recent months from regulators and advocates who argue the company gets vulnerable users hooked on its products while spoon-feeding them content that hurts their mental health.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2022
Med-jacks are spoon-feeding her whatever soups Frypan can cook up, checking her vitals and such.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
