white elephant

noun

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of white elephant

1 : an Asian elephant of a pale color that is sometimes venerated in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar

2 a : a property requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit

b : an object no longer of value to its owner but of value to others

c : something of little or no value

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white elephant was our Word of the Day on 02/19/2013. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of white elephant from the Web

The sprawling terminal may have become a bit of a white elephant with the falloff in passenger traffic, but not so the airport as a whole.

— New York Times, "The Trouble With the Memphis Airport: No Crowds," 23 May 2018
Perennials for sun and shade, bulbs, herbs, and unusual plants from members' own gardens will be available, along with a gardener's white elephant table.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Vernon Edition," 8 May 2018
Perennials for sun and shade, bulbs, herbs, and unusual plants from members' own gardens will be available, along with a gardener's white elephant table.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Vernon Edition," 8 May 2018
In the late 1970s, Nashville’s train station, built in 1900, became a white elephant.

— carson bear, USA TODAY, "Historic train stations converted into hotels," 1 May 2018
FirstEnergy has become a white elephant of a stadium, with none of the architectural uniqueness of Progressive Field, its games attended by a dwindling fan base which has lost everything but hope.

— bill livingston, cleveland.com, "Cleveland Indians 2018: A quarter-century in the park that saved the team: Bill Livingston (photos)," 6 Apr. 2018
Perennials for sun and shade, bulbs, herbs, and unusual plants from members' own gardens will be available, along with a gardener's white elephant table.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Vernon Edition," 8 May 2018
Critics argue that the $20 billion infrastructure mega-project is politically driven and a costly white elephant.

— sarah lazarus, CNN, "The $20 billion 'umbilical cord': China unveils the world's longest sea-crossing bridge," 4 May 2018
Perennials for sun and shade, bulbs, herbs, and unusual plants from members' own gardens will be available, along with a gardener's white elephant table.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Vernon Edition," 1 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'white elephant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The real white elephant (the kind with a trunk) is a pale pachyderm that has long been an object of veneration in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar. Too revered to be a beast of burden, the white elephant earned a reputation as a burdensome beast, one that required constant care and feeding but never brought a single cent (or paisa or satang or pya) to its owner. One story has it that the kings of Siam (the old name for Thailand) gave white elephants as gifts to those they wished to ruin, hoping that the cost of maintaining the voracious but sacred mammal would drive its new owner to the poorhouse.

First Known Use of white elephant

15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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WHITE ELEPHANT Defined for English Language Learners

white elephant

noun

Definition of white elephant for English Language Learners

: something that requires a lot of care and money and that gives little profit or enjoyment

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white elephant

Definition of white elephant

white elephant was our Word of the Day on 02/19/2013. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of white elephant from the Web

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First Known Use of white elephant

WHITE ELEPHANT Defined for English Language Learners

white elephant

Definition of white elephant for English Language Learners

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white elephant

Definition of white elephant

white elephant was our Word of the Day on 02/19/2013. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of white elephant from the Web

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First Known Use of white elephant

WHITE ELEPHANT Defined for English Language Learners

white elephant

Definition of white elephant for English Language Learners

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