spoon-feed
Americanverb (used with object)
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spoon-feeds,
present (3rd person singular)
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spoon-fed,
past participle, past
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spoon-feeding
present participle
verb
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to feed with a spoon
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to overindulge or spoil
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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
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spoon-feedsimple
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spoon-feedssimple
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have spoon-fedperfect
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has spoon-fedperfect
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am spoon-feedingprogressive
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are spoon-feedingprogressive
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is spoon-feedingprogressive
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have been spoon-feedingperfect progressive
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has been spoon-feedingperfect progressive
Past
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spoon-fedsimple
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had spoon-fedperfect
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was spoon-feedingprogressive
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were spoon-feedingprogressive
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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:
He was not going to spoon-feed that to us.
From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2023
“There’s such pressure to spoon-feed information in the streamer world because there’s a terror that if someone in the audience is slightly confused, they will quit watching,” says Somerville.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2022
"I wanted someone to spoon-feed me information in a format that was easy."
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2021
Then I would imprison him in his highchair and spoon-feed him, eager to witness gastronomic revelation — the earthy sweetness of yams tinged with maple syrup, the vegetal pleasure of buttery broccoli.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 24, 2020
We must spoon-feed it, and nice nights that will give me!
From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 430 Volume 17, New Series, March 27, 1852 by William Chambers
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
"Where the Crawdads Sing" often spoon-feeds viewers everything they need to know with oh so tender voiceovers, dialogue, and images that simply overstate the obvious.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2022
By monitoring our listening, the algo tries to figure out what we like, then spoon-feeds us some more.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 9, 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
"I spoon-fed the police," she explains with exasperation as she shows us print-outs of text messages and voicemails.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2025
He believes viewers should be active participants and not just have everything spoon-fed to them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2024
At a scoop shop in downtown Manhattan, a large white poodle was spoon-fed what appeared to be vanilla ice cream.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2024
But even as a kid, I was largely content to live within those musically monolithic walls, supremely enjoying the fact that I'd been spoon-fed "In Utero" since I was in utero.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2023
The man spoon-fed me broth with sweet corn mush until the fist unclenched just enough for me to rest, then he put it beside me on a flat rock.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
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
If spoon-feeding a baby, that means waiting for them to open their mouth and put their head forward to start and stopping when they turn or push food away.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 10, 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 vit;als and such.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
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.
