Antonyms for spoil
| Grammar : Verb |
| Spell : spoil |
| Phonetic Transcription : spɔɪl |
Definition of spoil
Origin :- c.1300, from Old French espoillier "to strip, plunder," from Latin spoliare "to strip of clothing, rob," from spolium "armor stripped from an enemy, booty;" originally "skin stripped from a killed animal," from PIE *spol-yo-, perhaps from root *spel- "to split, to break off" (cf. Greek aspalon "skin, hide," spolas "flayed skin;" Lithuanian spaliai "shives of flax;" Old Church Slavonic rasplatiti "to cleave, split;" Middle Low German spalden, Old High German spaltan "to split;" Sanskrit sphatayati "splits").
- Sense of "to damage so as to render useless" is from 1560s; that of "to over-indulge" (a child, etc.) is from 1640s (implied in spoiled). Intransitive sense of "to go bad" is from 1690s. To be spoiling for (a fight, etc.) is from 1865, from notion that one will "spoil" if he doesn't get it. Spoil-sport attested from 1801.
- verb ruin, hurt
- verb baby, indulge
- verb decay, turn bad
- The boat he supposed to belong to Robert, and he was determined to spoil it.
- Extract from : « Brave and Bold » by Horatio Alger
- When we only spoil you by praising and quoting everything you say.
- Extract from : « Malbone » by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
- Tell me what it is, or I'll go and find out, and spoil the fun.
- Extract from : « The Raid From Beausejour; And How The Carter Boys Lifted The Mortgage » by Charles G. D. Roberts
- I disdain to spoil my eyes or waste my time by newspaper-reading.
- Extract from : « Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 6, May 7, 1870 » by Various
- Yet now she must spoil it all, and all for the Father's hardness.
- Extract from : « The Penance of Magdalena and Other Tales of the California Missions » by J. Smeaton Chase
- The moral inculcated by it is, "Spare the rod and spoil the child."
- Extract from : « Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 2, April 9, 1870 » by Various
- But why rasp your nerves and spoil your digestion by so fuming over their politics?
- Extract from : « In the Valley » by Harold Frederic
- A fishing vessel's no place for 'em; they'll spoil all our luck.
- Extract from : « The Works of Whittier, Volume V (of VII) » by John Greenleaf Whittier
- My dear Evelyn, you are born to spoil every one—from Sultan to Aubrey.
- Extract from : « Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete » by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
- Do not let us spoil a great opportunity because of our sensitiveness as authors.
- Extract from : « Casanova's Homecoming » by Arthur Schnitzler
Synonyms for spoil
- accommodate
- addle
- become tainted
- become useless
- blemish
- break down
- cater to
- coddle
- cosset
- crumble
- curdle
- damage
- debase
- decompose
- deface
- defile
- demolish
- depredate
- desecrate
- desolate
- despoil
- destroy
- deteriorate
- devastate
- disfigure
- disgrace
- disintegrate
- favor
- go bad
- go off
- harm
- humor
- impair
- injure
- kill with kindness
- make useless
- mar
- mess up
- mildew
- molder
- mollycoddle
- muck up
- oblige
- overindulge
- pamper
- pillage
- plunder
- prejudice
- putrefy
- ravage
- rot
- sack
- smash
- spoliate
- spoon-feed
- squash
- taint
- take apart
- tarnish
- trash
- turn
- undo
- upset
- vitiate
- waste
- wreck
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019