Meaning & use
feedback
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Meanings
noununcountable
Comments, reactions, or information about how well someone or something is doing, used for improvement.
Grammar: Say some feedback or a piece of feedback, not a feedback; the plural feedbacks is rare outside technical systems.
Patterns
- give someone feedback
- feedback on something
- constructive feedback
The teacher gave useful feedback on my draft.
We received positive feedback about the new app design.
noununcountabletechnicalmusic
A loud, high-pitched noise when a microphone picks up sound from the speakers it is feeding.
Grammar: Used for the effect, not individual countable events; common in sound, music, and computing contexts.
Patterns
- audio feedback
- reduce feedback
- feedback from the speakers
A sharp burst of feedback interrupted the concert.
Move the microphone to reduce feedback during the talk.
Common combinations
- give feedback
- Managers should give feedback promptly and respectfully.
- constructive feedback
- She asked for constructive feedback rather than empty praise.
- customer feedback
- Customer feedback led to a simpler checkout page.
- feedback on a draft
- I sent my report early so I could get feedback on the draft.
- positive feedback
- Positive feedback encouraged the volunteer team to continue.
Synonyms and how they differ
- input
- Input is broader and can mean ideas or data contributed; feedback implies a response to performance.
- response
- Response is any reply; feedback is specifically meant to guide improvement.
- evaluation
- Evaluation is often a formal judgment or assessment; feedback may be informal and ongoing.
- critique
- Critique usually examines strengths and weaknesses in depth; feedback can be brief and practical.
Word family
- feed back phrasal verb
- To return comments or results into a process.
Commonly confused: feedback or feed back?
feedback vs feed back
Feedback is the noun; feed back is the two-word verb, as in please feed back your comments.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
Feedback is normally uncountable, so some feedback is correct. Feed back as two words is a verb, not the noun needed here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “feedback”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.