spoken

adjective

spo·​ken ˈspō-kən 

1

: delivered by word of mouth : oral

2

: characterized by speaking in (such) a manner

—used in combination

soft-spoken

plainspoken

Synonyms

• nuncupative
• oral
• unwritten
• verbal
• viva voce
• word-of-mouth

Examples of spoken in a Sentence

a spoken agreement is too easily broken

a politician who knows the power of the spoken word

Recent Examples on the Web

Amazingly, there was virtually zero lag between spoken words and displayed text. —Roger Dooley, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025

Lansky is under no illusion that Yiddish will be revived as a spoken language outside of the haredi Orthodox community. —Andrew Silow-Carroll, Sun Sentinel, 9 June 2025

The award-winning hip hop soul band combines spoken word and live instrumentation. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 June 2025

The videos also tend to show garbled subtitles that almost match the spoken words, which is an artifact of subtitles on videos present in the training data. —ArsTechnica, 29 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

past participle of speak

First Known Use

1560, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing spoken

• be spoken for
• fair-spoken
• free-spoken
• short-spoken
• softly-spoken
• soft-spoken
• well-spoken

Rhymes for spoken

• broken
• oaken
• token
• woken
• awoken
• betoken
• heartbroken
• outspoken
• unbroken
• unspoken

Kids Definition

spoken

adjective

spo·​ken ˈspō-kən 

1

: given by or using speech

a spoken message

the spoken language

2

: speaking in a specified manner

soft-spoken

plainspoken