Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

elephant in the room

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.06 in modern English

Syllables
ele-phan-t in the -room
IPA
27
Scrabble Score
17
Letters
4
Syllables
11
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A problem or difficult issue that is very obvious, but is ignored for the convenience or comfort of those involved.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Likely US origin, or possibly from Ivan Andreyevich Krylov's 1814 fable, The Inquisitive Man, which tells of a man going to a museum and noticing all sorts of things apart from an elephant.

Inflected Forms

elephants in the room (plural)

Phrases

800-pound gorilla in the room gorilla in the room acknowledge the corn address me 🐘

Frequently Paired Words

acknowledge the corn address me 🐘 paromologia paromology

Synonyms

emperor's new clothes 800-pound gorilla gorilla in the room 800-pound gorilla in the room

Questions

What does elephant in the room mean?
A problem or difficult issue that is very obvious, but is ignored for the convenience or comfort of those involved.
Where does elephant in the room come from?
Likely US origin, or possibly from Ivan Andreyevich Krylov's 1814 fable, The Inquisitive Man, which tells of a man going to a museum and noticing all sorts of things apart from an elephant.

How to pronounce elephant in the room

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “elephant in the room”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “elephant in the room”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “elephant in the room” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.