pamper
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to treat or gratify with extreme or excessive indulgence, kindness, or care.
to pamper a child; to pamper one's stomach.
- Antonyms:
- discipline
-
Archaic. to overfeed, especially with very rich food; glut.
verb
-
to treat with affectionate and usually excessive indulgence; coddle; spoil
-
archaic to feed to excess
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pamper
1350–1400; Middle English pamperen < Middle Dutch; compare Dutch dialect pamperen
Explanation
When you pamper your dog, you spoil him. You might pamper him by feeding him cubes of cheese and knitting him a little sweater and letting him sleep in your bed under the covers. Some people love to pamper their pets, cooking them special food and buying them expensive collars and toys. To pamper goes beyond kind treatment, bordering on overindulgence or coddling. People also like to pamper themselves from time to time, getting a massage or a manicure, or otherwise being treated indulgently. The word pamper originally meant "to cram with food," most likely from a Middle Dutch root meaning "to cram."
Vocabulary lists containing pamper
Bronx Masquerade
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Baseball in April
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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.
As you might expect, the Grand Highlander’s cabin aims to please, pamper and placate.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
The largest, which rents for $1,500 an hour, boasts heated marble floors, king- and queen-size beds, and “premium linens and towels to pamper the most discerning,” a charter listing says.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 26, 2023
As has often been reported, current A.I. software has a tendency to pamper its users, to supply whatever answers they seem to be seeking.
From Slate • Sep. 26, 2023
New cars and trucks are packed with sensors and technology that protect and pamper drivers and passengers.
From New York Times • Jul. 3, 2023
There is not enough power in the country even to keep the lights on in Pyongyang, where the government tries to pamper the elite.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
