too many cooks spoils the broth

A form of too many cooks spoil the broth — If too many people participate in a task, especially in a leading role, the task will not be done very well.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proverb
  1. uncommonUncommon form of too many cooks spoil the broth.

    There, git away from here, the both of ye. Too many cooks spoils the broth.

    1949, Gladys Hasty Carroll, chapter 4, in West of the Hill, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, page 52
    3 more examples

    It hath been obſerved among the French (a Nation as much addicted to changes as any) that when the charge of an undertaking hath been committed to many, it cauſed but confuſion, and therefore its a ſaying among them, Trop de Cuiſineirs gattent le pottage, Too many Cooks ſpoils the Broth.

    1662, Balthazar Gerbier, A Brief Discourse Concerning the Three Chief Principles of Magnificent Building. Viz. Solidity, Conveniency, and Ornament., London, pages 23–24

    “Leave her to me,” said that courageous woman. “‘Too many cooks spoils the broth.’”

    1886 April, Martha Ogden Inglis, “Our Baby, and How We Undid Her. […] Chapter IV.”, in Leroy M[ilton] Yale [Jr.], Marion Harland [pseudonym; Mary Virginia Terhune], editors, Babyhood: A Monthly Magazine for Mothers, […], volume II, number 17, New York, N.Y.: Babyhood Publishing Company, page 168, column 1

    Hey, Girlie, let me help you finish setting that table while Lil slices them potatoes. Too many cooks spoils the broth.

    1977, Berniece Rabe, chapter 3, in The Girl Who Had No Name, New York, N.Y.: E. P. Dutton, →ISBN, page 38
Cite this entry
APA

too many cooks spoils the broth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/too%20many%20cooks%20spoils%20the%20broth

MLA

“too many cooks spoils the broth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/too%20many%20cooks%20spoils%20the%20broth. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “too many cooks spoils the broth,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/too%20many%20cooks%20spoils%20the%20broth.

Source: too many cooks spoils the broth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.