a whited sepulcher

a whited sepulcher

A person, group, place, or thing presented as being virtuous and morally upright on the outside, but being hypocritically corrupt, immoral, or evil on the inside. A sepulcher is a burial vault containing the corpse of the deceased. Originally taken from a line in Matthew 23:27 in the Bible. We hope with this report to unmask the whited sepulcher that is the current governing body of the sport, which has profited off of bribery, the exploitation of migrant laborers, and the coercion of those who would stand against them. It always amuses me the shock people express when these TV evangelicals are exposed to be white sepulchers. Despite what they claim, we know that the board doesn't have the students' best interests at heart—they're just a whited sepulcher looking to make serious money.
See also: white
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

a whited sepulchre

a hypocrite; someone who is ostensibly virtuous but inwardly corrupt. literary
This expression comes from Matthew 23:27: ‘Woe unto you…for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness’. A sepulchre is a room or monument, cut in rock or built of stone, in which a dead body is laid or buried.
See also: sepulchre, white
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
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