🥄 A cooking spoon 🏅 A loser prize

wooden spoon

4.0

A prize often a small wooden object for the person or team finishing last in a competition

noun
/ˈwʊdən spun/

: premio de consolación

After losing the race, she jokingly accepted her wooden spoon trophy with a smile.

Examples

In the tournament, the losing team received a wooden spoon to remind them of their defeat.
I'm talking about the belt, a wooden spoon, spanking, a slap in the face.

Blog text (25)
The team that finished last was humorously awarded a wooden spoon at the ceremony.

Synonyms

booby prize

vswooden spoon

Informal

2 6.3

A small funny gift for the person who finishes last

is an informal award often given as a literal utensil to the last place

Antonyms

winner

∞ 1.0

A person or team that beats others in a competition

first place

343 2.1

The top position in a competition or race

How Successful

winner

∞ 1.0

runner-up

47 2.7

mid-level

4.0

wooden spoon

4.0

Surface Forms

wooden spoon singular

wooden spoons plural

Morphology

wooden + spoon

The phrase literally names an object made of wood and a utensil, but its conventionalized use as an informal prize for coming last is an idiomatic, culturally specific meaning not predictable from the parts. A B1 learner who knows 'wooden' and 'spoon' would most likely interpret the literal object and not infer the figurative ‘last-place award’ sense without exposure or cultural context.

Etymology

Wooden spoon may come from an old school or college joke where a plain wooden spoon was given to the person who came 'last' in exams or games. The cheap spoon became a clear sign of last place, so the phrase means an informal prize for finishing 'last'.