spoon-feed
Americanverb (used with object)
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
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have spoon-fedperfect
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has spoon-fedperfect 3rd person singular
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am spoon-feedingprogressive 1st person singular
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spoon-feedingparticiple
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is spoon-feedingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been spoon-feedingperfect progressive
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are spoon-feedingprogressive
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spoon-feedssingular 3rd person
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has been spoon-feedingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
Past
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had spoon-fedperfect
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had been spoon-feedingperfect progressive
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spoon-fedsimple
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spoon-fedparticiple
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was spoon-feedingprogressive singular
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were spoon-feedingprogressive plural
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.
“I don’t like trying to spoon feed people with only the news that we think is good for them.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025
“I love that his shows don’t spoon feed the audience on how to feel.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2023
Our fans are very intelligent and they feel rewarded that our writers write to that and we are directed to perform to that, to never spoon feed.
From Salon • Aug. 19, 2018
In the midst of a major evolutionary shift to a righteously extended adolescence, we've been so lucky to have the immensely talented Dunham to spoon feed us her rich insights.
From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2016
When dinner was ready I'd fetch a plate and spoon, feed 'em all round, and shut 'em up again.
From Nine Little Goslings by Coolidge, Susan
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.
