spoon-fed

UK: /ˈspuːnfed/ US: (spo̅o̅n′fed′)

From the verb spoon-feed: (⇒ conjugate)

spoon-fed is: ⓘ

v past

v past p

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

spoon-fed  (spo̅o̅n′fed′), adj. 

1. fed with a spoon.
2. treated with excessive solicitude;
   pampered.
3. given no opportunity to act or think for oneself:
   Having always been spoon-fed, I couldn't meet the challenge of college.

• 1900–05

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ˈspoon-ˌfeed,  v. [~ + object] , -fed, -feed•ing. 

1. to feed with a spoon.
2. to provide (someone) so fully with information that he or she is prevented from acting independently:
   He didn't want to spoon-feed his students by just giving facts.
3. to provide someone with (information) in this way:
   to spoon-feed data to his students.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

spoon-feed  (spo̅o̅n′fēd′, -fēd′), v.t., -fed, -feed•ing. 

1. to cause to be spoon-fed.

• 1605–15

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

spoon-feed verb ( -feeds, -feeding, -fed)(transitive)

1. to feed with a spoon
2. to overindulge or spoil
3. to provide (a person) with ready-made opinions, judgments, etc, depriving him or her of original thought or action