lotus-eater

[ loh-tuhs-ee-ter ]

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.

lotus-eater

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of lotus-eater¹

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

Many voters who’ve managed to strap themselves to the mast have chosen the lotus eater’s life; seeing nothing, hearing nothing, hoping to disappear into their phones and realities of their own creation….It's time to listen to the Cassandras.

From Salon

There's stuff happening on the right side in "Lotus Eater" by Mura Masa that habitually gets congealed into a middle-of-your-head mass of sound on most headphones.

From The Verge

Is the flute part in Lotus Eater a sample?

From BBC

The dream of the lotus eater, the mindfulness of the meditating monk and the agony of the patient all feel the way they do because of the shape of the distinct crystals in a space of a trillion dimensions—truly a beatific vision.

From Scientific American

We want to become a sort of lotus eater, at least for a while.

From Time Magazine Archive