- To treat with excessive indulgence: pampered their child.
- To give in to; gratify: He pampered his ambition for wealth and fame.
- Archaic. To indulge with rich food; glut.
[Middle English pamperen, probably of Low German origin.]
pamperer pam'per·er n.SYNONYMS pamper, indulge, humor, spoil, coddle, mollycoddle, baby. These verbs all mean to cater excessively to someone or to his or her desires or feelings. To pamper is to gratify appetites, tastes, or desires: “He was pampering the poor girl's lust for singularity and self-glorification” (Charles Kingsley). Indulge suggests a kindly or excessive lenience in yielding especially to wishes or impulses better left unfulfilled: “You musn'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: “He seems to be in no danger of being spoilt by good fortune” (George Gissing). Coddle and mollycoddle point to tender, overprotective care that often leads to weakening of character: “I would not coddle the child” (Samuel Johnson). Stop mollycoddling me; I'm a grown person. Baby suggests the indulgence and attention one might give to an infant: “I should like to be made much of, and tended—yes, babied” (Adeline D.T. Whitney).
