elephant

noun

ˈe-lə-fənt How to pronounce elephant (audio)
Definition of elephantnext
as in whale
something or someone that is unusually large and powerful by any standard, the new shopping mall will be an elephant and one that is certain to alter the retail landscape

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of elephant Excavators uncovered stone artifacts and bones of Stegodon florensis insularis, a bison-size extinct relative of elephants, near the Homo floresiensis fossils. — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 3 July 2026 Andrea Gutierrez, a University of Texas professor who researched captive elephants in South Asia, said Kerala's temple elephants are male, which poses a problem. — ABC News, 3 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for elephant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elephant
  1. whale
  2. giant
  3. dinosaur
  4. monster
  5. mammoth
Noun
  • Those include swimming dolphins, traveling in space, and taking a bath with a whale.
    — Parents, Parents, 3 July 2026
  • Along with a full roster of shows and entertainment, the ship will sail with a whale specialist during summer months.
    — Jane Wooldridge, Travel + Leisure, 3 July 2026
Definition of whale
Noun
  • In 2024, the Detroit auto giant alleged the startup’s branding and Bronco lookalikes crossed into false advertising.
    — Zachary Hansen, AJC.com, 10 July 2026
  • Danish jewelry giant Pandora introduced a creative platform in collaboration with British stylist Harry Lambert, called Pandora Wonders.
    — Laure Guilbault, Vogue, 10 July 2026
Definition of giant
Noun
  • The dinosaur blockbuster earned close to $1 billion at the box office and spawned a franchise.
    — Joyce Eng, Entertainment Weekly, 13 July 2026
  • Gus also reportedly shows bite marks and evidence of fractures that the dinosaur survived, which Sotheby’s said may add to its scientific significance.
    — Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 13 July 2026
Definition of dinosaur
Noun
  • Go on, put the 131-cube (2,147 cc) monster engine into that one.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 6 July 2026
  • There’s no way the doll monsters at the pond were the whole point of the Lake of Tears, right?
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026
Definition of monster
Noun
  • For a mammoth, a successful pregnancy in an elephant surrogate would drag on for almost two years.
    — Taylor Dotson, Scientific American, 10 July 2026
  • According to this theory, those now-extinct megafauna—the giant ground sloths and the giant beavers, the mastodons and mammoths, and even the lions and dire wolves—were relatively quickly hunted to extinction.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 June 2026
Definition of mammoth

Browse Nearby Words

elements
elephant
elephantine
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Cite this Entry

“Elephant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elephant. Accessed 15 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on elephant

Nglish: Translation of elephant for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about elephant

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