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

Foolish we may often be, yet we cannot accept this Gethsemane for a garden of the gods; the most wilful lotus-eater must perforce see the streaming tears, the stain of blood, the shadow of death.

From The world's great sermons, Volume 08 Talmage to Knox Little by Kleiser, Grenville

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

The fabled lotus-eater wished never to leave the isle whence he had plucked it.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No 3, September, 1862 Devoted to Literature and National Policy. by Various

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

From We Can't Have Everything by Hughes, Rupert

"It is exhausting, but with my usual energy I do it all the same," said Ernest, who is as a fact the world's champion lotus-eater.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, July 21, 1920 by Seaman, Owen, Sir