spoiled

American  

[spoild] / spɔɪld /

adjective

1. (of a person, especially a child) indulged excessively or pampered, with a harmful effect on character.

   Her grandfather is a rough, no-nonsense farmer with little patience for a spoiled kid from the city.

2. (of food) having become bad or unfit for use; tainted, rancid, or soured.

   Eating spoiled fish causes symptoms that closely resemble an allergic reaction.

3. severely damaged or harmed, especially in a way that reduces value, usefulness, excellence, enjoyment, etc.; marred or ruined.

   His new book, Fly Fishing Tips for the Desperate, can help turn a spoiled fishing trip into a successful one.

4. (of a ballot) disqualified by being marked in an improper way or otherwise marred or defaced.

   If you make a mistake on your absentee ballot, return it to the auditor with "spoiled ballot” on the envelope and request a replacement.

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verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of spoil.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unspoiled
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of spoiled

spoil ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

When a person is spoiled, they're damaged by having been given everything they want. Spoiled people are usually pretty rotten. When food is spoiled, it's also rotten—literally. Spoiled things and spoiled people are both fairly unpleasant. A spoiled child typically whines for something and gets it, becoming used to that kind of over-indulgent treatment. Spoiled milk smells terrible and tastes even worse. This adjective comes from the verb spoil, meaning "ruin" or "destroy"; the idea was that giving in to a child's every whim would ruin him.

Example Sentences

Indeed, what now looks like nightly riots began with reports of maggot-infested and spoiled food.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026

Crisis strikes the kitchen when our forgotten, shelved-away ingredients teeter on the fine line between fresh and spoiled.

From Salon • May 30, 2026

"We spent so many months with no fresh rations as the ships failed to reach here, or the limited vegetables they were carrying were spoiled during the long journey," she recalled.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

Even if my generation overall was not particularly lucky when it came to higher education, those of us who did go to university really were the most spoiled of all.

From BBC • May 17, 2026

This was the thing about being spoiled: you had to rise above it.

From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata

Related Words

• rotten