spoonfed
Given easy answers
Spoonfed is the past tense of spoon-feed—to feed someone by putting food into their mouth with a spoon, as with infants or invalids.
The figurative sense dominates: to provide information or assistance so thoroughly that no independent effort is required.
Students who are spoonfed facts never learn to think critically.
The word usually carries a negative connotation of excessive hand-holding or intellectual laziness.
Lavished with indulgence
- indulgedYielded to desire
- babiedTreated with excessive care
- coddledExcessively sheltered or indulged
- cossetedOverprotected and indulged
doted · smothered · overprotected · sheltered · mothered · nurtured · enabled · hovered
Requiring minimal effort
- predigestedPartially digested already
- simplifiedMade less complex
- dumbed-downMade less intellectually demanding
- watered-downReduced in strength
unchallenging · elementary · basic · straightforward · uncomplicated · undemanding · digestible · accessible
Requiring external support
- helplessUnable to act independently
- passiveNot actively participating
- needyWanting in essentials
- incapableLacking requisite ability
hand-held · guided · assisted · supported · sheltered · unprepared · inexperienced · uninitiated
Superior select group
- entitledHaving rightful claim
- advantagedHaving benefits others lack
- wealthyHaving abundant financial resources
- inheritedReceived from forebears
aristocratic · well-off · upper-class · affluent · nepotism · legacy · pedigree · blueblood
pampered
Lavished with indulgence
cosseted · doted · smothered · overprotected · sheltered · mothered · nurtured · enabled · hovered · fussed
easy
Requiring minimal effort
- predigestedPartially digested already
- simplifiedMade less complex
- dumbed-downMade less intellectually demanding
watered-down · unchallenging · elementary · basic · straightforward · uncomplicated · undemanding · digestible · accessible · bite-sized
reliant
Requiring external support
incapable · hand-held · guided · assisted · supported · sheltered · unprepared · inexperienced · uninitiated · unskilled
elite
Superior select group
- entitledHaving rightful claim
- advantagedHaving benefits others lack
- wealthyHaving abundant financial resources
inherited · aristocratic · well-off · upper-class · affluent · nepotism · legacy · pedigree · blueblood · patrician
spoonfedself-taught
Educated without instructors
autodidactic · self-reliant · independent · self-directed · self-educated
spoonfedtrial by fire
Test through difficult experience
baptism by fire · hard-won · struggled · challenged · tested