variants
also 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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of elephants
The Okavango Delta is one of those places, an enigmatic wetland that disappears into the Kalahari Desert and is home to the world’s largest remaining elephant population — a wilderness beyond comparison.
—
Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 29 Jan. 2026
The project centers around the eponymous Carthaginian general who led an army of warriors and elephants across the Alps to fight the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 29 Jan. 2026
Traditional gray elephant print overlays are expected on the heel and toe tip, while gray also fills in the outsole and the shoe’s plastic components.
—Riley Jones, Footwear News, 29 Jan. 2026
My journey began, in fact, with two nights at Orient Express La Minerva, a ravishing new Roman hotel quite literally steps from the Pantheon, directly in front of Bernini’s iconic elephant and obelisk statue in the Piazza della Minerva.
—Liam Hess, Vogue, 28 Jan. 2026
Saltwater crocs laze among the area’s wetlands, while pygmy elephants are often seen replenishing themselves riverside.
—Laura Kiniry, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Jan. 2026
Wooden tools rarely survive so long; the same archeological site contained 2,000 stone tools, along with elephant bones and other animal remains, but just two wooden implements.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 27 Jan. 2026
For years, researchers have found other remnants at the site, including stone tools and elephant bones with cuts on them.
—Adithi Ramakrishnan, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2026
Coral planting in Costa Rica, women’s empowerment projects in Morocco, artisan preservation in Japan and Sweden, and elephant sanctuaries in Botswana are embedded into itineraries.
—Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 29 Jan. 2026
The project centers around the eponymous Carthaginian general who led an army of warriors and elephants across the Alps to fight the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 29 Jan. 2026
Traditional gray elephant print overlays are expected on the heel and toe tip, while gray also fills in the outsole and the shoe’s plastic components.
—Riley Jones, Footwear News, 29 Jan. 2026
My journey began, in fact, with two nights at Orient Express La Minerva, a ravishing new Roman hotel quite literally steps from the Pantheon, directly in front of Bernini’s iconic elephant and obelisk statue in the Piazza della Minerva.
—Liam Hess, Vogue, 28 Jan. 2026
Saltwater crocs laze among the area’s wetlands, while pygmy elephants are often seen replenishing themselves riverside.
—Laura Kiniry, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Jan. 2026
Wooden tools rarely survive so long; the same archeological site contained 2,000 stone tools, along with elephant bones and other animal remains, but just two wooden implements.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 27 Jan. 2026
For years, researchers have found other remnants at the site, including stone tools and elephant bones with cuts on them.
—Adithi Ramakrishnan, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2026
Coral planting in Costa Rica, women’s empowerment projects in Morocco, artisan preservation in Japan and Sweden, and elephant sanctuaries in Botswana are embedded into itineraries.
—Daniel Scheffler, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elephants
Noun
-
But for the population, which stands at 384 whales, to rebound from its substantial losses in the past decade, many more calves will need to be born.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
-
The fewer than 100 Rice’s whales remaining live across the Gulf but are most common off Florida, and the opinion estimated that drilling will kill nine Rice’s whales through vessel strikes and seriously injure three more over the next 45 years.—
Christian Wagley,
The Orlando Sentinel,
3 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Jurassic Quest This interactive experience offers a close and realistic look at life-size animatronic dinosaurs.—
Tiffany Acosta,
AZCentral.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Allies of Noem, meanwhile, have decided that Homan and Scott are bureaucratic dinosaurs who are unable to achieve the president’s objectives.—
Michael Scherer,
The Atlantic,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Lawmakers were pushing a measure, similar to those enacted in Australia and Canada, that would have forced tech giants to pay online publishers for the ransacking, er, use, of their journalistic content.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
27 Jan. 2026
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China’s tech sector—including giants like Alibaba and Kuaishou, and small startups like DeepSeek, Moonshot, and MiniMax—is locked in a race to lead the way in AI.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Savvy ancestors As mammoths and elephants were rare in prehistoric England, the discovery highlights the advanced cognitive skills of early humans.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Jan. 2026
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Using chemical clues from Neanderthal bones, researchers have placed the species at the top of the food chain, alongside apex predators like lions – feasting on big animals such as mammoths or bison.—
Jay Kakade
December 31,
New Atlas,
31 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
But beneath his plush exterior and upbeat messaging, Buddy is an insatiably needy, controlling narcissist requiring constant affirmations of the children’s love and filling their heads with terror of the monsters lurking in the outside world beyond the park in which the show takes place.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Jan. 2026
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And the monsters are truly terrifying.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Elephants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elephants. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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