ELEPHANTS Synonyms: 41 Similar and Opposite Words

elephants

noun

variants also elephant

plural of elephant

as in whales

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

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 elephants And not my friend Ruth Ganesh, who brought a herd of 100 life-size elephant sculptures made from the Lantana camara weed in Southern India to America to raise awareness for wildlife conservation. — Dodie Kazanjian, Vogue, 3 Nov. 2026 To make matters worse, Alex screws up again when Kerry, Fraser, and Kaylee leave with the guests for an excursion at the elephant sanctuary. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 3 Nov. 2026 African elephants are critically endangered due to issues like poaching and the ivory trade. — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 29 Oct. 2026 In nature, larger animals, such as elephants and whales, tend to live longer than smaller animals, such as mice and shrews, Teeling says. — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 28 Oct. 2026 In the film, Dumbo, a baby elephant with large ears, is dropped off by a stork at a circus in Florida. — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2026 The debut feature centers on Pilati, head of a kinnar, or third-gender, community in a village hemmed in by elephant forest, who takes over the hunt for a missing girl when police won’t help. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Oct. 2026 There are plans to introduce elephants in the next 12 to 18 months. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Oct. 2026 Five mammal groups – primates, carnivores, whales, elephants and rhinos – received 86% of available funding, despite accounting for only one-third of threatened mammal projects. — David Ginsburg, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for elephants

Noun

In February last year, more than 150 whales beached off the coast of Tasmania, Australia – and all of them either died or were euthanized – in the first mass stranding of the animals in Tasmania in 50 years.

— Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2026
Necropsy reports this week specified the causes of death for two beluga whales at Shedd Aquarium after they were rescued from Canada.

— Adam Harrington, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of whales

Noun

In the photo, a cake with a gold number 3 could be seen in the center of a table, featuring what appeared to be dinosaurs on it.

— Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2026
Identifying red blood cells in dinosaurs The fossil is a partial hind limb of Aratasaurus museunacionali, a theropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous.

— Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of dinosaurs

Noun

Currently, to meet the massive capital requirements of AI infrastructure, American tech giants are expanding financing channels into overseas markets like Europe while extending bond maturities.

— , CNBC, 6 Nov. 2026
The legal action follows successful lawsuits brought against the tech giants by California and others that have resulted in massive civil settlements.

— Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of giants

Noun

Almost forty thousand years ago, in the caves of Chauvet in France, someone painted lions, rhinoceroses, mammoths, and bears with striking naturalism, allowing the animals to emerge from the contours and relief of the stone walls.

— Andrew Zuckerman, Popular Science, 7 Nov. 2026
In ancient California, they are believed to have existed alongside other extinct native species, including bison-sized Jefferson’s ground sloths, Columbian mammoths and western camels.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of mammoths

Noun

The film, set between the years 1945 and 1947, depicts a society struggling to recover from war, only to be reduced, once again, by the arrival of a kaiju (as giant monsters are known in Japanese, and to fans of the corresponding film genre).

— Matt Alt, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2026
The fight scene rules, and there are much, much worse things for kids to see than CGI monsters grievously injuring one another.

— James Grebey, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of monsters

Browse Nearby Words

elephantine

elephants

elevate

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Elephants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elephants. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of elephants

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

defer

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes