Etymology

whited sepulchre

Today it means: One who is outwardly attractive, but unclean or vile on the inside; a hypocrite. Full definition →

Ancient Greek τάφος κεκονιαμένος
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromτάφος κεκονιαμένος“plastered tomb, hypocrite”
  2. English todaywhited sepulchre

An allusion to Matthew 23:27 in the Bible. From Ancient Greek τάφος κεκονιαμένος (táphos kekoniaménos, “plastered tomb, hypocrite”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.