† lotophagistn.
Obsolete.
1. Greek Mythology. A member of a people represented in Homer's Odyssey as living in a state of dreamy forgetfulness and idleness as a result of eating the fruit of the lotus (lotus n. 2); = lotus-eater n. 1. Cf. Lotophagi n.In quot. 1828: a person likened to one of the Lotophagi in being ignorant of the ways of the real world; an idealist.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [noun] > lazy person > in luxurious ease > in Greek legend
lote-eater1585
lotus-eater1670
lotophagist1828
1828 W. Godwin Hist. Commonw. Eng. IV. iv. xxx. 527 Clarendon..expresses his astonishment, like a true Arcadian or Lotophagist, that Cromwel should upon two victims..have suffered the sentence of the law to take its course.
1877 Mediterranean Illustr. xxiv. 333/1 The coast of Tunis begins at a point opposite the island of the Lotophagists, and thence stretches westward.
2. A person who leads a life of idle contentment or luxury; = lotus-eater n. 2. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > disinclination to act or listlessness > sloth or laziness > [noun] > lazy person > in luxurious ease
lotophagist1839
lotus-eater1847
1839 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 45 289 Like most of our countrymen who have become habituated to the..gentle ethics of that singular place [sc. Lima], he is what he calls a lotophagist.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.1828