whited sepulcher

American  

[hwahy-tid sep-uhl-ker, wahy‐] / ˈʰwaɪ tɪd ˌsɛp əl kər, ˈwaɪ‐ /

especially British, whited sepulchre

noun

1. an evil person who feigns goodness; hypocrite. Matthew 23:27.

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Etymology

Origin of whited sepulcher

First recorded in 1530–40

Example Sentences

In the cold concrete of the great bunker, the whited sepulcher of National Socialism, the moviegoer has the vivid sensation, for most of two hours, that he is buried alive.

From Time Magazine Archive

In a very few hours I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a whited sepulcher.

From Heart of Darkness by Conrad, Joseph

It’s such a whited sepulcher, and its inhabitants are such blackguards with great big hearts.

From The Law-Breakers by Cullum, Ridgwell

And the woman knew that her frailties were many and the hiss was Truth, and that all her loveliness was but a whited sepulcher that hid the ghastly bones of a murdered womanhood.

From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 10 by Brann, William Cowper

The whited sepulcher lay a heap of blackened ruins.

From The Witness by Lutz, Grace Livingston Hill