Elephant in the Room.
English
idiom
An obvious problem nobody talks about.
Trusted by1.5M+English learners & teachers worldwide
An obvious problem nobody talks about.
Trusted by1.5M+English learners & teachers worldwide
A large, obvious problem or uncomfortable topic that everyone is aware of but nobody wants to talk about.
When there is an elephant in the room, people deliberately avoid addressing something important because it feels awkward or difficult.
It is often used when a serious issue is being ignored in a group or conversation.
"Sweep Something Under the Rug"
—
To hide a problem and pretend it does not exist
"Turn a Blind Eye"
—
To deliberately ignore something you know is happening
"Elephant in the Room"
—
An obvious problem everyone sees but refuses to address
I think we need to address the elephant in the room — our biggest client is unhappy.
You're right. Let's talk about what went wrong and how we fix it.
We've been so busy lately. Are things okay with us?
Honestly, there's been an elephant in the room for weeks — can we finally talk about it?
Did anyone at the party mention that Mark and Lisa broke up?
No, it was such an elephant in the room — everyone knew but nobody said a word.
