lotus-eater

noun

"lotus-eater" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lotus-eater” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A member of the legendary people living on an island dominated by the lotus tree, who have forgotten their homes due to the fruits' narcotic and stupefying effect.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lotus-eater · lotus-eater · English

lotus-eater · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for lotus-eater
PropertyValue
Headwordlotus-eater
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “lotus-eater” in English

lotus-eaterranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lotus-eater is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

lotus-eater has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Calque of Ancient Greek Λωτοφάγος (Lōtophágos), described in the epic poem the Odyssey, Book IX. The correct English form is lotus-eater, spelled L-O-T-U-S---E-A-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A member of the legendary people living on an island dominated by the lotus tree, who have forgotten their homes due to the fruits' narcotic and stupefying effect.
  2. 2
    Someone with a carefree, idyllic life.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how lotus-eater appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Men of Ithaca, this is meeter, / In the hollow rosy vale to tarry, / Like a dreamy Lotos-eater, a delirious Lotos-eater!
  2. Our readers will, we think, agree that this is admirably character­istic, and that the singers of this song must have made pretty free with the intoxicating fruit. How they got home you must read in Homer:—Mr. Tennyson—himself, we presume, a dreamy lotus-eater, a delicious lotus-eater—leaves them in full song.

Etymology

Calque of Ancient Greek Λωτοφάγος (Lōtophágos), described in the epic poem the Odyssey, Book IX.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lotus-eater"?
"lotus-eater" is spelled L-O-T-U-S---E-A-T-E-R.
What does "lotus-eater" mean?
As a noun, "lotus-eater" means: A member of the legendary people living on an island dominated by the lotus tree, who have forgotten their homes due to the fruits' narcotic and stupefying effect.
What is the origin of the word "lotus-eater"?
Calque of Ancient Greek Λωτοφάγος (Lōtophágos), described in the epic poem the Odyssey, Book IX. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list