Word.ws English Dictionary

gorilla in the room

gorilla in the room noun: a problem or difficult issue that is very obvious, but is ignored for the convenience or comfort of those involved.

Noun

gorilla in the room (plural gorillas in the room)

  1. (idiomatic) A problem or difficult issue that is very obvious, but is ignored for the convenience or comfort of those involved.
    • Near-synonyms: elephant in the room, emperor's new clothes

Synonyms of gorilla in the room

Forms of gorilla in the room

pluralgorillas in the room

Origin of gorilla in the room

Blend of 800-pound gorilla + elephant in the room.

Questions about gorilla in the room

What does gorilla in the room mean?
Gorilla in the room means a problem or difficult issue that is very obvious, but is ignored for the convenience or comfort of those involved.
What part of speech is gorilla in the room?
Gorilla in the room is a noun.
What is the plural of gorilla in the room?
The plural of gorilla in the room is gorillas in the room.

Words near gorilla in the room in the dictionary

  1. gorier
  2. goriest
  3. gorilka
  4. gorilkas
  5. gorilla
  6. gorilla in the room
  7. gorilla pimp
  8. gorilla pimped
  9. gorilla pimping
  10. gorilla pimps
  11. gorilla press

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gorilla in the room (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-gorilla in the room.oga.

Cite this entry: “gorilla in the room.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gorilla_in_the_room. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.