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, for viewers if not the characters, is that at 47, Andrew Scott is too old for the fledgling sociopath that Tom Ripley is supposed to be in the first of Highsmith’s novels in the series. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Apr. 2024

John Oates carefully sidestepped the elephant in the room on Wednesday during his keynote conversation at SXSW, even as the veteran hitmaker offered anecdotes and pearls of wisdom from his more than 50 years in the music business. —Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 14 Mar. 2024

However, there’s an elephant in the room: This promotion has a high wagering requirement of 40x. —Sponsored Content, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024

Mark Andrews/Alamy No matter the shape, size, or price of EVs, experts say the lack of reliable public charging remains the elephant in the room that’s flattening the adoption curve. —IEEE Spectrum, 8 Feb. 2024

March 12: The first Oscars since ‘The Slap’ Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel will return to host the Academy Awards ceremony and has promised to say something about what will be a giant elephant in the room: Will Smith’s infamous smacking of Chris Rock during the 2022 telecast. —Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024

Great article on cannabis legalization, but whither the green elephant in the room? —Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024

Yet Ukraine’s shortage of weaponry in the face of nearly five months of Russia’s offensive hung over the whole day like the elephant in the room. —Constant Méheut, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2024

Yet there’s an elephant in the room – more than one actually. —Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined above