Showing results for "spoiled"

• past participle of spoil.
• past tense form of spoil.

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

• unspoiled
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of spoiled

spoil ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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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

See Examples For:

spoiled

The incident came three weeks after a cyberattack disrupted French grocery stores and led hundreds of outlets to throw away spoiled stock.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

Hundreds of stores were targeted by the overnight hack, which spoiled fresh and frozen food estimated to be worth millions of euros.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

The firm brought in a forensic accountant, who found what the first filing had left out: A lot of the company’s products had spoiled while the business was still paying its overhead, Berenji said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

The Union of Truckers and Drivers Associations Across Iran said Tuesday that some drivers had been forced to abandon spoiled cargoes of fruit and other agricultural produce.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Thrashing arms and legs beat the water into foam and spoiled the fishing.

From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli

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Related Words

• rotten

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