Sadducee

American  

[saj-uh-see, sad-yuh-] / ˈsædʒ əˌsi, ˈsæd jə- /

noun

Judaism.

1. a member of a Palestinian sect, consisting mainly of priests and aristocrats, that flourished from the 1st century b.c. to the 1st century a.d. and differed from the Pharisees chiefly in its literal interpretation of the Bible, rejection of oral laws and traditions, and denial of an afterlife and the coming of the Messiah.

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Sadducee British  

/ ˈsædjʊˌsiː /

noun

1. Judaism a member of an ancient Jewish sect that was opposed to the Pharisees, denying the resurrection of the dead, the existence of angels, and the validity of oral tradition

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Other Word Forms

• Sadduceeism
  noun
• Sadducean
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Sadducee

before 1000; Middle English sadducees (plural), Old English saddūcēas < Late Latin saddūcaeī < Greek saddoukaîoi < Hebrew ṣədhūqī adherent of Zadok

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Sadducee

He is a guest under my roof and a Sadducee of power.

From The Coming of the King by Bernie Babcock

Jerusalem was the headquarters of rabbinic learning and priestly arrogance—the home of the Pharisee and the Sadducee, who guided public opinion; and there, from first to last, He had made few adherents.

From The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ A Devotional History of our Lord's Passion by James Stalker

"Thou didst ask our brother, the alabarch, if he were commissioned with a perplexity," the Sadducee continued.

From Saul of Tarsus A Tale of the Early Christians by Elizabeth Miller

Philo, a Pharisee, one of the Jewish sanhedrim, who hated Caiaphas, the high priest, for being a Sadducee.

From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3 by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer

I am not quite so much of a Sadducee as you used to think me, and I hope there may be a happier world for us all.

From Willing to Die by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu