adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of spoony
First recorded in 1805–15; spoon (in the archaic sense “shallow person, simpleton, fool”) + -y 1
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.
Foolish people may have been called spoony because, like the bowl of a spoon, they are shallow and lack depth.
From The Guardian • Aug. 19, 2019
The meaning is nearly the same as that of spoony.
From A Collection of College Words and Customs by Hall, Benjamin Homer
Dibdin was off the boards altogether, and favour was divided between the London popular comic song and the sentimental—no longer with any flavour of salt about it, but the sentimental spoony and sickly.
From The English in the West Indies or, The Bow of Ulysses by Froude, James Anthony
A fellow can't show a nice girl a whole lot of spoony attentions, and then back off, letting the girl discover that he has been only fooling all summer.
From Dick Prescott's Second Year at West Point Finding the Glory of the Soldier's Life by Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)
Poor old Poynsett, I used to think he wanted to be spoony on you, Joan, if he had only known his own mind.
From The Three Brides by Yonge, Charlotte Mary
Definitions 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.
