spoon-feed
/ˈspunˌfid/
"spoon-feed" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“spoon-feed” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To help somebody (usually a baby or elder) to eat using a spoon; to feed using a spoon.
Corpus desk
Index EN-spoon-feed · spoon-feed · English
spoon-feed · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | spoon-feed |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈspunˌfid/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “spoon-feed” in English
Rare enough to double-check
spoon-feed is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈspunˌfid/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for spoon-feed in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From spoon + feed. The correct English form is spoon-feed, spelled S-P-O-O-N---F-E-E-D.
Definition
- 1To help somebody (usually a baby or elder) to eat using a spoon; to feed using a spoon.
- 2To overly pamper or indulge (someone), so that they do not (or because they failed to) act or think for themselves.
- 3To give (something) in an overly pampering way, so that the recipients do not (or because they failed to) act or think for themselves.
- 4To explain (something, to someone) in simple words; to explain (it, to them) in words of one syllable; to spell (it) out (for them).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how spoon-feed appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I can help you with your homework, but you must understand the concept, because I will not spoon-feed you.
What do you mean "I don't know"? I'm practically spoon-feeding you the answer!
Etymology
From spoon + feed.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.