elephant in the room
A problem or difficult issue that is very obvious, but is ignored for the convenience…A problem or difficult issue that is very obvious, but is ignored for the convenience or comfort of those involved.
» Let's talk about the elephant in the room.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(idiomatic)A problem or difficult issue that is very obvious, but is ignored for the convenience or comfort of those involved.
Near-synonyms: 800-pound gorilla, gorilla in the room, 800-pound gorilla in the room
Elefant im Raum
слона-то я и не приметилslona-to ja i ne primetil, скользкая темаskolʹzkaja tema
Examples
7 sentencesLet's talk about the elephant in the room.
Tom was the only one willing to address the elephant in the room.
Том був єдиним, хто мав бажання порушити слизьку тему. — deniko · CC BY 2.0 FR
Let's address the elephant in the room.
Let me point out the elephant in the room.
Algeria needs to address the elephant in the room.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Likely US origin, or possibly from Ivan Andreyevich Krylov's 1814 fable, The Inquisitive MLikely US origin, or possibly from Ivan Andreyevich Krylov's 1814 fable, The Inquisitive Man, which tells of a man going to a museum and noticing all sorts of things apart from an elephant.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: elephants in the room| Singular | elephant in the room |
|---|---|
| Plural | elephants in the room |
irregular · Lesson
Synonyms
4 synonymsWord family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Plural nouns — Because its plural is irregular
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.