spoil

B1 Topic:Food & Drink

Also spelled spile and spiling

US /spɔɪl/ See IPA manual

Freq #4428

Meanings

1

verb
To ruin or damage something so it is no longer good or enjoyable.

Don't let one rude comment spoil your whole evening.
2

verb
Of food, to go bad and become unfit to eat.

Put the milk back in the fridge or it will spoil.
3

verb
To treat someone, especially a child, too kindly so that their character is harmed.

His grandparents spoil him with toys every weekend.
4

noun
Valuable things taken by force, especially in war (usually plural).

The soldiers returned home with the spoils of war.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to ruin or damage something... ruin damage destroy

2 verb · of food, to go bad and... go bad

More blight botch bumble bungle contaminate corrupt crab deprave disrupt disturb foil mar

Opposites

aid bolster cultivate foster nurture support sustain uphold

Word family

Forms spoiledspoilingspoils

Derived forms q-spoilspoil-paperspoilabilityspoilablespoileespoilerspoilfivespoilfulspoillessspoilsomespoilsportunspoil

Related forms despoil spoilage spoilsport spoilt

Etymology

From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliō, spoliāre (“pillage, ruin, spoil”).

spoilen Middle English espoillier Old French spoliō Latin

View etymology graph ->

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# spoil

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /spɔɪl/
**Frequency rank:** 4428

## Meanings
1. To ruin or damage something so it is no longer good or enjoyable.
2. Of food, to go bad and become unfit to eat.
3. To treat someone, especially a child, too kindly so that their character is harmed.
4. Valuable things taken by force, especially in war (usually plural).

## Examples
- Don't let one rude comment spoil your whole evening.
- Put the milk back in the fridge or it will spoil.
- His grandparents spoil him with toys every weekend.
- The soldiers returned home with the spoils of war.

## Synonyms
- blight
- botch
- bumble
- bungle
- contaminate
- corrupt
- crab
- deprave
- disrupt
- disturb
- foil
- mar

## Antonyms
- aid
- bolster
- cultivate
- foster
- nurture
- support
- sustain
- uphold

## Derived Forms
- q-spoil
- spoil-paper
- spoilability
- spoilable
- spoilee
- spoiler
- spoilfive
- spoilful
- spoilless
- spoilsome
- spoilsport
- unspoil

## Related Forms
- despoil
- spoilage
- spoilsport
- spoilt

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: spoilen
- Root: espoillier
- Root: spoliō

## Etymology
From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliō, spoliāre (“pillage, ruin, spoil”).

## AI Etymology
Spoil is from Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliō, spoliāre (“pillage, ruin, spoil”). Important forms in the word's history include Middle English spoilen, Old French espoillier, Latin spoliō. In current use it includes senses such as To ruin or damage something so it is no longer good or enjoyable and Of food, to go bad and become unfit to eat.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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spoil

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