elephant

IPA/ˈelɪfənt/
KK[ˈɛləfənt]IPA/ˈelɪfənt/

elephant — noun

  • elephantsingular
  • elephantsplural

1. A very large land animal native to Africa and Asia, with grey skin, a long trunk

1.nounA2
Definition

A very large land animal native to Africa and Asia, with grey skin, a long trunk used for breathing and grasping objects, large ears, and two long curved teeth called tusks.

Example

The elephant at the zoo used its trunk to spray water on the visitors.

collocation: trunk + spray water

Aylin could see a herd of elephants drinking from the river during her trip.

collocation: a herd of elephants

Common collocations
  • African elephant
  • Asian elephant
  • baby elephant
  • herd of elephants
  • elephant's trunk
  • elephant sanctuary
  • elephant tusk
Synonyms
  • pachyderm

    A formal, scientific term for thick-skinned mammals including elephants, rhinos, and hippos; rarely used in everyday speech.

Grammar Patterns

an + elephant

a herd of + elephants

elephant + verb expressing animal action

Usage Note

Two living species exist: the African elephant (larger ears, both sexes grow tusks) and the Asian elephant (smaller ears, only males have visible tusks). The noun is countable — one elephant, two elephants.

Common Mistakes

Elephant have a long trunk.
An elephant has a long trunk.
The subject 'elephant' is singular and needs the article 'a/an' or 'the', and the verb must agree in the third-person singular form.
The elephant's tooth was very long.
The elephant's tusk was very long.
The long curved teeth of an elephant are called 'tusks' (made of ivory), not ordinary 'teeth'.

2. A very obvious but uncomfortable issue that people in a group are aware of and y

2.nounB2
Definition

A very obvious but uncomfortable issue that people in a group are aware of and yet avoid discussing, because talking about it would cause embarrassment or conflict.

Example

At the family dinner, the elephant in the room was their father's recent illness.

fixed phrase: the elephant in the room + be + noun phrase

Nobody at the meeting mentioned the budget cuts, even though it was the elephant in the room.

Common collocations
  • the elephant in the room
  • address the elephant in the room
  • ignore the elephant in the room
  • the real elephant in the room
  • the big elephant in the room
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • an open secret

    Both refer to something widely known, but an open secret is often talked about indirectly, whereas the elephant in the room is actively avoided.

Grammar Patterns

be + the elephant in the room

address / ignore / mention + the elephant in the room

the elephant in the room + be + problem/issue/subject

Usage Note

Almost always appears in the fixed phrase 'the elephant in the room'. Common verbs that precede it include 'address', 'ignore', 'point out', 'mention', and 'be'. Avoid using it to refer to literal elephants.

Common Mistakes

There is an elephant in the room about the budget.
The elephant in the room is the budget problem.
The phrase is used as a subject or object, not a 'there is' construction.
I saw an elephant in the room at the party.
The elephant in the room at the party was the argument between the hosts.
Using the phrase literally (about a real elephant) changes the meaning completely.
Idioms

the elephant in the room

idiom

A major problem or an awkward subject that everyone knows about but nobody wants to discuss, especially in a social or professional group setting.

During the board meeting, nobody talked about falling sales — that was the elephant in the room.

Ravindra knew the elephant in the room was his decision to quit, so he brought it up himself.

Word family

  • elephantine
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

While all three words describe large, thick-skinned animals, each refers to a distinct creature with different physical features. An elephant is the only one with a trunk (a long, flexible nose) and large, fan-like ears; it lives in herds and is found in Africa and Asia. A mammoth was an extinct relative of the elephant, larger and covered in shaggy fur, with long curved tusks. A rhinoceros (or rhino) has one or two horns on its snout, thick folded skin, and lives alone or in small groups. A hippopotamus (or hippo) spends most of the day in water, has a barrel-shaped body, and a very wide mouth with large canine teeth. In casual use, people may say something is 'an elephant of a problem' to mean very big, but not 'mammoth' (which is only an adjective), 'rhino', or 'hippo' for that purpose.

mammoth ↗rhinoceros ↗hippopotamus ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • elephant sanctuary
  • elephant trainer
  • elephant ride
  • elephant population

Phrases

Prepositions

  • of elephants (a herd of elephants)
  • in the room (the elephant in the room)

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'elephant' entered English from Old French 'elefant', which came from Latin 'elephantus'. The Latin term was borrowed from Greek 'elephas', which originally meant 'ivory' before it came to refer to the animal that produces it. This shift from 'ivory' to 'the animal with ivory tusks' happened in ancient Greek, and the word then spread through Latin into most European languages.