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

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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 The elephant would be Sheeran’s former opening act, Macklemore, who is no longer with the traveling production. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026 Atari wore elephant-print pants and a purple wizard’s cloak, and kept handy a face mask emblazoned with the words what if love wins? — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026 An investigation is underway to establish the definitive cause of the deaths inside the area where wildlife including lions, elephants and black rhinos live in proximity with semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists. — ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026 That lines up well with Indian and African elephants, which run at around 36°, and falls within the margin of error of large flightless birds like ostriches and emus. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 20 Sep. 2026 According to Kenya's Wildlife Service, preliminary tests showed the elephants may have ingested cyanide. — Kristin Wright, NPR, 20 Sep. 2026 Mastodons were massive, elephant-like herbivores that went extinct roughly 11,700 years ago, near the end of the last Ice Age. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 19 Sep. 2026 Poor Sofia was trying to get the shot, and everything slowed down because this elephant had arrived. — Daisy Leepson, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026 All mammals, from mice to cats to elephants, appear to sleep in some form or another. — Michael R. Nadorff, The Conversation, 14 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for elephants

Noun

Rather than insisting that these whales continue with their life, which is a human decision, perhaps they should be allowed to die gracefully and respectfully on their own.

— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 26 Sep. 2026
The Canadian government signed off on a last-minute agreement to move its last captive whales out of the country earlier this year, saving them from euthanasia.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of whales

Noun

Its discovery adds to our understanding of one of the world’s premier fossil deposits and what life in Illinois looked like even before dinosaurs.

— Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 24 Sep. 2026
Scientists have unearthed only a handful of tracks from other dinosaurs in the wider Hell Creek Formation.

— Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of dinosaurs

Noun

Ruddy failed to foil the Nexstar-Tegna combination or to get a $250 million compensation fund included in an FTC settlement over an advertising-giants merger.

— Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 24 Sep. 2026
The timing of the tech giants' flagship releases, days ahead of the summit, has revived debate over whether China's AI industry has hit an inflection point.

— Anniek Bao, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of giants

Noun

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
See fossils of the 14-foot, 20,000-pound mammoths that used to roam around Texas.

— Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of mammoths

Noun

They’re rooted in a time and place that feels all too real, and this allows the monsters to parade their primitive might in a way that means something.

— Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 27 Sep. 2026
The poet, Pavese implies, is a creature of Chaos—that anarchic state in which good is mixed with bad and monsters mingle with men and gods.

— Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of monsters

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elephantine

elephants

elevate

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“Elephants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elephants. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of elephants

noun

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