lotus-eater

American  

[loh-tuhs-ee-ter] / ˈloʊ təsˌi tər /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. a member of a people whom Odysseus found existing in a state of languorous forgetfulness induced by their eating of the fruit of the legendary lotus; one of the lotophagi.

2. a person who leads a life of dreamy, indolent ease, indifferent to the busy world; daydreamer.

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lotus-eater British  

noun

1. Greek myth one of a people encountered by Odysseus in North Africa who lived in indolent forgetfulness, drugged by the fruit of the legendary lotus

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Etymology

Origin of lotus-eater

First recorded in 1660–80; singular of lotus-eaters, translation of Latin Lōtophagī, from Greek Lōtophágoi, noun use of masculine plural adjective lōtophágos “lotus-eating.” See lotus, -phagous

Example Sentences

There is much truth in Mr. Gosse's saying that "the poet is not a lotus-eater who has never known the Gospel, but an evangelist turned inside out."

From Old and New Masters by Lynd, Robert

I felt a dash of the infatuation of the lotus-eater, in his "—land that seemed always afternoon."

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine No. XVI.?September, 1851?Vol. III. by Various

About it were chairs and divans that would have satisfied a lotus-eater.

From We Can't Have Everything by Hughes, Rupert

If one has been a lotus-eater all summer, he must turn gravel-eater in the fall and winter.

From Winter Sunshine by Burroughs, John

He was still lost in the dreams of the lotus-eater when he heard something that resembled the rattling of his own noisy car.

From Penny of Top Hill Trail by Lyford, Philip