Apples of Sodom
Preserved but no longer current.
Thevenot says — "There are apple-trees on the sides of the Dead Sea which bear lovely fruit, but within are full of ashes." Josephus, Strabo, Tacitus, and others speak of these apples, and are probably referring to the gall-nuts produced by the insect Cynips wsana. The phrase is used figuratively for anything disappointing.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Apples of Sodom” mean?
Thevenot says — "There are apple-trees on the sides of the Dead Sea which bear lovely fruit, but within are full of ashes." Josephus, Strabo, Tacitus, and others speak of these apples, and are probably referring to the gall-nuts produced by the insect Cynips wsana. The phrase is used figuratively for anything disappointing.
Is “Apples of Sodom” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.