Feed back or feedback?
feed back is a verb meaning “To provide informational feedback to”; feedback is a noun meaning “Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results”. Use feed back as a verb and feedback as a noun (feedback is also a verb: “To generate the high-frequency sound by allowing a speaker…”). feed back is written as two words and feedback as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between feed back and feedback?
| feed back | feedback | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, noun | noun, verb |
| Meaning | To provide informational feedback to To convey by means of specialized communications channel | Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results The part of an output signal that is looped back into the input to control or modify a system To generate the high-frequency sound by allowing a speaker to cause vibration of the sound generator of a musical instrument connected by an amplifier to the… |
| Example | His employees fed back a lot more than he wanted | After you hand in your essays, I will give both grades and feedback |
| Forms | none | feedbacks |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈfiːdˌbæk/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 21 times per million words |
Sources: feed back and feedback in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of feed back and feedback
feed back
- 1
To provide informational feedback to
His employees fed back a lot more than he wanted
- 2
Alternative form of feedback
- 3
To convey by means of specialized communications channel
Customers fed back their complaints and some praise
- 4
To return electrical current generated by some means (such as solar panels, regenerative braking) to the power grid
feedback
- 1
Critical assessment of a process or activity or of their results
After you hand in your essays, I will give both grades and feedback
- 2
To generate the high-frequency sound by allowing a speaker to cause vibration of the sound generator of a musical instrument connected by an amplifier to the speaker
The show ended with a riot of feedbacking guitars
- 3
The part of an output signal that is looped back into the input to control or modify a system
- 4
To provide informational feedback to
His employees feedbacked him a lot more than he wanted
- 5
The high-pitched howling noise heard when there is a loop between a microphone and a speaker
- 6
To convey by means of specialized communications channel
Customers feedbacked their complaints and some praise
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, feed back or feedback?
feed back is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; feedback 21 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).