elephant in the room

noun phrase

: an obvious major problem or issue that people avoid discussing or acknowledging

Examples of elephant in the room in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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The elephant in the room at the final COP29 meeting was the global military industrial complex. —

Saleem H. Ali, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024 The elephant in the room: the recent, crushingly decisive reelection of Donald Trump and his running mate, shadow money-adjacent buffoon J.D. Vance, who surprisingly has art world ties of his own. —

Helen Holmes, ARTnews.com, 19 Nov. 2024 The elephant in the room was the huge amount of disinformation that Donald Trump and his allies spread throughout the country. —

Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 15 Nov. 2024 Yet, the elephant in the room — climate change — still does not appear to have entered into the decision-making of many coastal dwellers, builders and policymakers. —

David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 24 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for elephant in the room

Word History

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of elephant in the room was in 1985

See more words from the same year

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Style

“Elephant in the room.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elephant%20in%20the%20room. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

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