Lotophagus

L1O1T1O1P3H4A1G2U1S1

noun

A member of the Lotophagi; a lotus eater.

Scrabble 16

Meanings

nounLotophagus (plural Lotophagi or Lotophages)

plural Lotophagi · plural Lotophages

  1. A member of the Lotophagi; a lotus eater.

    Anyway the beer is here and the rooming here and the sun is here and if things get too tough you can soon become a lotophagus along with the rest of us.

    1984, Jackson J. Benson, The true adventures of John Steinbeck, writer: a biography, Viking Pr
    3 more examples

    It will be acquiesced in by a much less deserving band, if band it may be called, when each fights for his own hand, without respect to his neighbour, by those who have set their hearts and their treasures in this world, and exert what powers of thought they in devising a sickly optimism, by which the existing state of things, whatever it may be, may be made into a fool's paradise — men of whom Charles Lamb was perhaps the most favourable specimen, that " mild-eyed melancholy" Lotophagus of literature.

    1847, The Ecclesiastic [afterw.] The Theologian and ecclesiastic [afterw.] The Ecclesiastic and theologian [afterw.] The Ecclesiastic, page 131

    To our taste, the best way to dress the bulbs, and to free them from the marshy flavour they leave behind in the mouth, is to drain the water off several times in cooking them ; they then taste nearly like boiled celery, and may be very nourishing; but I would not be a Lotophagus here, for I had much rather eat potatoes with their jackets on.

    1849, Ferdinand Werne, Expedition to discover the sources of the White Nile, in the years 1840, 1841, from the Germ., by C.W. O'Reilly, page 125

    But far from this, the blighted spinster is fair, fat, and — no ! never shall it be said that the Lotophagus ever attempted to solve that impenetrable mystery.

    1870, Eneas Sweetland Dallas, Once a Week, page 37

Origin

  1. Ancient GreekΛωτοφάγος
  2. LatinLōtophagus
  3. EnglishLotophagus

Borrowed from Latin Lōtophagus, from Ancient Greek Λωτοφάγος (Lōtophágos, literally “lotus eater”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Lotophagus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lotophagus

MLA

“Lotophagus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lotophagus. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Lotophagus,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lotophagus.

Source: Lotophagus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.