lotus-eater

[loh-tuhs-ee-ter]

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.

lotus-eater

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of lotus-eater¹

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