Laodicean

[ ley-od-uh-see-uhn, ley-uh-duh- ]

adjective
  1. lukewarm or indifferent, especially in religion, as were the early Christians of Laodicea.

noun
  1. a person who is lukewarm or indifferent, especially in religion.

Origin of Laodicean

1
First recorded in 1605–15; Laodice(a) + -an

Words Nearby Laodicean

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Laodicean in a sentence

  • The Laodicean attitude of a shrewd publisher hurt her less than at first.

    The Higher Court | Mary Stewart Daggett
  • As a season she is distinctly a failure, being neither one thing nor the other, neither hot nor cold, a very Laodicean.

    Imaginary Interviews | W. D. Howells
  • Is it possible that we have the lost Laodicean document in the epistle before us?

  • Such Laodicean luke-warmness betokens in the class which exhibits it a weakening of impulse.

  • They show an amount and degree of interest in ideas of the kind which are surprising to a Laodicean like me.

    Robert Elsmere | Mrs. Humphry Ward

British Dictionary definitions for laodicean

laodicean

/ (ˌleɪəʊdɪˈsɪən) /


adjective
  1. lukewarm and indifferent, esp in religious matters

noun
  1. a person having a lukewarm attitude towards religious matters

Origin of laodicean

1
C17: referring to the early Christians of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14–16)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012