pachyderm
noun
Did you know?
Pachydermos in Greek means literally "having thick skin" (figuratively, it means "dull" or "stupid"). It's from pachys, meaning "thick," and derma, meaning "skin." In the late 1700s, the French naturalist Georges Cuvier adapted the Greek term as pachyderme for any one of a whole assemblage of hoofed animals having thickish skin: elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, tapirs, horses, pigs, and more. English speakers learned the word from French in the early 1800s. The adjective pachydermatous means "of or relating to the pachyderms" or "thickened" (referring to skin). Not too surprisingly, it also means "callous" or "insensitive" (somewhat unfairly especially to elephants, which are actually known to be rather sensitive).
Examples of pachyderm in a Sentence
Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 16 Dec. 2024
The resort itself, a modern build of canvas, stone, and walls of concrete mixed with elephant dung (an ode to the pachyderms and a textural accent) has an intimate atmosphere and just 10 suites.
—Tanveer Badal, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Dec. 2024
In this movie, a pachyderm can reach the heavens, but a veteran filmmaker can’t change his stripes.
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—Will Leitch, Vulture, 9 Sep. 2024
But this 10-foot-tall pachyderm, with halftime performances and a larger-than-life-persona that are as captivating as the play, is one of the rare mascots to become a star in her own right.
—Harmeet Kaur, CNN, 5 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pachyderm 
Dictionary Entries Near pachyderm
Cite this Entry
“Pachyderm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pachyderm. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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pachyderm
noun
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