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
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:
As usual, Wiseman doesn’t spoon-feed us details of who’s who and where’s where; he trusts us to get our bearings over an effortlessly engrossing four hours.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2023
He was not going to spoon-feed that to us.
From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2023
"I wanted someone to spoon-feed me information in a format that was easy."
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2021
The show’s smartest decision, other than Byrne’s casting, may be its tendency to evoke rather than spoon-feed.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2021
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 Chambers, William
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
Instead, it spoon-feeds students dry accounts of Chinese law and the Politburo Standing Committee, which are “very abstract for the students,” said the teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 7, 2022
Mantel never spoon-feeds us, never makes it particularly easy.
From New York Times ● Sep. 23, 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
Surely, the viewer can put two and two together on their own to decipher a deeper meaning within the text without the message being spoon-fed to them.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2025
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
Other images include Susan being spoon-fed by her young granddaughter and her lying on her bed having forgotten how to dress herself.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2024
These are sympathetic and moving sentiments to be sure, but being spoon-fed these messages isn’t all that interesting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2023
He had opened a can of mixed vegetables for her, and then spoon-fed her, so she wouldn’t have to take out her arms.
From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
My surgeon made sure to facilitate my physical transition as much as possible, spoon-feeding me talking points for insurance coverage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
In her own novels, NDiaye can’t be accused of spoon-feeding readers.
From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2023
So now Washington is spoon-feeding him innings, feeling that’s better than giving him five- or six-inning starts only to shut him down in August.
From Washington Post ● May 31, 2022
You just have to look past the people that are spoon-feeding you information.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2022
Med-jacks are spoon-feeding her whatever soups Frypan can cook up, checking her vitals 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.
