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
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 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
Articles Related to elephant in the room
Dictionary Entries Near elephant in the room
Cite this Entry
“Elephant in the room.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elephant%20in%20the%20room. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share