white elephants

noun

plural of white elephant
as in castaways

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for white elephants
  1. castaways
  2. rubbish
  3. seconds
Noun
  • But the Hurricanes turned speedy castaways like Ehlers, Miller, Taylor Hall and Eric Robinson into Cup champions.
    — Murat Ates, New York Times, 17 June 2026
  • Other castaways struggled with how to present themselves on screen while playing this game of cons and elimination.
    — Shaan Merchant, Rolling Stone, 20 May 2026
Definition of castaways
Noun
  • This comes at the expense of no movement in the wrist, but to be fair, having the lightsaber pointed in any other direction would look rubbish.
    — Matt Gardner, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • Only construction waste will be accepted at the landfill such as, brush and rubbish, concrete, brick, rock, wood, paper, plastics, cardboard and roofing shingles and tiles.
    — Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 July 2026
Definition of rubbish
Noun
  • Place the pita directly on the oven rack and broil until toasted, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
    — Kate Williams, AJC.com, 27 July 2026
  • The path of totality — the moon’s dark shadow — will cross eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain, from where the sun’s corona will become visible, if skies are clear, for up to 2 minutes 18 seconds.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
Definition of seconds
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.

Browse Nearby Words

white elephant
white elephants
white-faced
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Cite this Entry

“White elephants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/white%20elephants. Accessed 2 Aug. 2026.

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