white elephant

Definition of white elephantnext

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for white elephant
Noun
  • There’s much ado about belts, a cerulean soliloquy, and a throwaway line about an eyelash curler that, frankly, should have landed better.
    Faran Krentcil, Allure, 4 May 2026
  • This was a lightweight device, even one that could be treated as a throwaway, that would connect to applications stored online.
    Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 29 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Viewers got to watch 24 castaways—four of whom came from previous seasons of Australian Survivor, three of whom have appeared on other reality TV shows, and 17 brand-new contestants—live on emote islands, compete in challenges, and vote each other off the show.
    Katie Decker-Jacoby, StyleCaster, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Carving out a little lane of their own is ØWay, a supergroup of castaways big enough to fill every position on a baseball field.
    Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 24 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • The service Most, but not all, staff here speak English, but no one is more than a few seconds away from someone who can help you.
    Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 May 2026
  • As a quick aside, Kenny Atkinson put in his third string near the end of the game and the Pistons cut a sizable deficit down to eight points with about 50 seconds left.
    Darnell Mayberry, New York Times, 12 May 2026
Noun
  • From the Japanese point of view, leaving rubbish piled up in a stadium would be a bother to others.
    Stephen Wade, Chicago Tribune, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Local villages are actively monitoring the oceans and reefs in their environment, and backlash to a recent plan from a billionaire Australian to build a giant plant to incinerate rubbish in Fiji was loud and well organized, says Singh.
    MIchelle Duff, HollywoodReporter, 27 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Pieces of trash, including an empty Pacifico beer can, gather dust on the floor behind the counter.
    Audrey Pachuta, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2026
  • Her choice would have been to ask if the interviewer would prefer the trash in the basket (avoiding any jokes about the interviewer having missed the target) and then proceed accordingly.
    Judith Martin, Mercury News, 8 May 2026
Noun
  • The city’s cost-of-service study said collecting the three different categories of waste — solid, recyclable and organic — would cost up to $148 million this year, up from $83 million last year.
    Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 May 2026
  • The team also found that alcohols generated directly from plastic waste delivered yields above 80 percent.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 8 May 2026
Noun
  • Euphoria swept across the country, including in small towns like Ashland, where my friends and I had pulled red wagons around to gather scrap for the war effort.
    Fran Moreland Johns, The Atlantic, 11 May 2026
  • After the war, though, the Canadian Navy needed to downsize, and Onassis bought it for $34,000, which was the scrap value at the time.
    Michael Ballaban, CNN Money, 9 May 2026
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.

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Cite this Entry

“White elephant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/white%20elephant. Accessed 13 May. 2026.

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