First recorded in 1605–15; Laodice(a) + -an
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"There is not even a tradition of any one's ever having turned the wary Deacon's flank," says Lowell, "and his Laodicean apples persisted to the end, neither one thing nor another."
From Four Famous American Writers: Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, James Russell Lowell, Bayard Taylor A Book for Young Americans by Cody, Sherwin
I gather she has been doing what she can for the cause wi’ them slippery rascals o’ dragoons and their Laodicean commander, of whom I have my ain thoughts.
From Graham of Claverhouse by Maclaren, Ian
Was that really why he had come down?--to make sure of this rich Laodicean?
From The Testing of Diana Mallory by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.
Such Laodicean luke-warmness betokens in the class which exhibits it a weakening of impulse.
From Post-Prandial Philosophy by Allen, Grant
And it is that Laodicean civilization, and not the fierce spirit of the new time, which is incarnate in the present official leaders of the British nation.
From England and Germany by Hughes, William Morris
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
