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
Expect to spy herds of elephants or noisy hippos wading in the river just a few feet away.
—
Todd Plummer, Robb Report, 19 June 2026
The Dior gown that Dovima wore while posing between elephants for Richard Avedon was a Saint Laurent design.
—Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 19 June 2026
The last two elephants, Billy and Tina, were transferred last year to the Tulsa Zoo after years of campaigning by animal rights advocates over cramped living conditions, health problems and the recent deaths of two other elephants.
—Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026
During the Sudanese civil war, South Sudan’s elephant population plummeted from 100,000 to 5,000 over three decades, as herds of gentle bystanders got caught in the crossfire.
—The Los Angeles Times, Mercury News, 18 June 2026
Related Stories The elephant of the title is no accident.
—Jenny S. Li, Variety, 16 June 2026
As part of the event, an African elephant named Paige surprised attendees on Friday.
—Britta Miller, The Washington Examiner, 13 June 2026
Instead of just focusing on the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and Cape buffalo, people want to see other animals including wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, hippos, and over 500 species of birds.
—Judy Koutsky, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026
The team ended up with a jar of elephant dung scent.
—Rj MacKenzie, Popular Science, 11 June 2026
Todd Plummer, Robb Report, 19 June 2026
The Dior gown that Dovima wore while posing between elephants for Richard Avedon was a Saint Laurent design.
—Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 19 June 2026
The last two elephants, Billy and Tina, were transferred last year to the Tulsa Zoo after years of campaigning by animal rights advocates over cramped living conditions, health problems and the recent deaths of two other elephants.
—Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026
During the Sudanese civil war, South Sudan’s elephant population plummeted from 100,000 to 5,000 over three decades, as herds of gentle bystanders got caught in the crossfire.
—The Los Angeles Times, Mercury News, 18 June 2026
Related Stories The elephant of the title is no accident.
—Jenny S. Li, Variety, 16 June 2026
As part of the event, an African elephant named Paige surprised attendees on Friday.
—Britta Miller, The Washington Examiner, 13 June 2026
Instead of just focusing on the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and Cape buffalo, people want to see other animals including wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, hippos, and over 500 species of birds.
—Judy Koutsky, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026
The team ended up with a jar of elephant dung scent.
—Rj MacKenzie, Popular Science, 11 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elephants
Noun
-
Entanglement and vessel strikes are the leading causes of death for the whales.—
Neal Riley,
CBS News,
14 June 2026
-
Why did so many whales die here?—
Adithi Ramakrishnan,
Los Angeles Times,
14 June 2026
Noun
-
The mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs gets most of the buzz, but there was an even worse bout of mass death ages before the dinosaurs said goodbye.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
18 June 2026
-
Your kids can pick out their favorite pattern—dinosaurs, flowers, rainbows, and cars are all options—and the bag can be tucked into their backpack, tote, or duffel.—
Lydia Mansel,
Travel + Leisure,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
The contributions to Becerra and Bonta are one signal that AI giants and their employees have taken notice, investing in state elections in addition to congressional races.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
17 June 2026
-
At the top, the commodity and energy giants that have anchored the list since its 2024 debut are slowing down.—
Andrew Staples,
Fortune,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
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
-
The artificial egg tech is the latest addition to Colossal's list of de-extinction projects, which now span dodo birds, dire wolves, and mammoths.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
19 May 2026
Noun
-
Gremlins walked the earth so Labubu monsters could run to a World Cup.—
Caoimhe O'Neill,
New York Times,
14 June 2026
-
However, classist monsters online have engaged my inner Hammond and my inner ‘Rat.—
Gretchen Kalwinski,
Chicago Tribune,
12 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Elephants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elephants. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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