HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY
To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.
Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.
THE USAGE PANEL
The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP
The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG
The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.
INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?
Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com
| tr.v. pam·pered, pam·per·ing, pam·pers 1. To treat with excessive indulgence: pampered their child. 2. To give in to; gratify: He pampered his ambition for wealth and fame. 3. Archaic To indulge with rich food; glut. [Middle English pamperen, probably of Low German origin.] pamper·er n. Synonyms: pamper, indulge, humor, spoil, coddle, mollycoddle, baby These verbs all mean to cater excessively to someone or to someone's desires or feelings. To pamper is to gratify appetites, tastes, or desires: “tempting stores of everything to stimulate and pamper the sated appetite and give new relish to the oft-repeated feast” (Charles Dickens). Indulge suggests a kindly or excessive lenience in yielding especially to wishes or impulses better left unfulfilled: “You mustn't think because I indulge you in some things that you can keep everyone waiting” (Theodore Dreiser). Humor implies compliance with or accommodation to another's mood or idiosyncrasies: “Human life is ... but like a froward child, that must be played with and humored a little to keep it quiet till it falls asleep” (William Temple). Spoil implies excessive indulgence that adversely affects the character, nature, or attitude: “My pupil was a lively child, who had been spoiled and indulged, and, therefore, was sometimes wayward” (Charlotte Brontë). Coddle and mollycoddle point to tender, overprotective care that often leads to weakening of character: “The two or three times a week she was home, she coddled Lisette, painting her toenails and rubbing rose-scented lotion into her legs” (Erin McGraw). “His mother mollycoddled the boy, combed and curled his hair, trimmed and tidied his clothes” (Patrick MacGill). Baby suggests the indulgence and attention one might give to an infant: “Though he was grown, she still babied him, kept his school pictures taped to her refrigerator, still bought his clothes on sale, still saved money for him” (Louise Erdrich). |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
