spoony

adjective

ˈspü-nē 

variants or spooney

spoonier; spooniest

1

: silly, foolish

especially : unduly sentimental

2

: being sentimentally in love

Did you know?

In 19th-century British slang, spoon meant "simpleton (a meaning that may have been influenced by the "shallowness" of some spoons). That use of "spoon" brought about the adjective "spoony" to describe a silly or foolish person. In time, the foolish manner implied by "spoony" began to take on sentimental and amorous overtones, and it soon became the perfect word for those foolishly head over heels in love. Another "spoon" is a verb referring to love-making or necking. That use of "spoon" may stem from a Welsh custom in which an engaged man presented his fiancé with an elaborately carved wooden spoon.

Synonyms

• chocolate-box
• cloying
• corny
• drippy
• fruity
• gooey
• lovey-dovey
• maudlin
• mawkish
• mushy
• novelettish
• saccharine
• sappy
• schmaltzy
• sentimental
• sloppy
• slushy
• soppy
• soupy
• sticky
• sugarcoated
• sugary
• wet

Examples of spoony in a Sentence

the spoony verses of a lovesick soldier to his girl back home

Word History

Etymology

English slang spoon simpleton

First Known Use

circa 1812, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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