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 potential elephant in the room here is whether the Bruins would trade with the Leafs and vice versa. Jonas Siegel, The Athletic, 25 Feb. 2025 The elephant in the room There is one hiccup, however. Sophia Saifi, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025 To her, the elephant in the room used to be the occupation, which, in her words, turned West Bank and Gaza into the biggest open prisons in the world. Tomris Laffly, Variety, 26 Jan. 2025 One of the reasons Israel and Hamas were able to come to terms last week was because the elephant in the room—ending the war—was kicked to future negotiations. John Yoo and John Shu, Newsweek, 23 Jan. 2025 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

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Cite this Entry

“Elephant in the room.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elephant%20in%20the%20room. Accessed 1 Mar. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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