heffalumps

Noun

heffalump (plural heffalumps)

1. (childish, humorous) (A child's name for) an elephant.
   • We went to the zoo and saw some heffalumps.
2. (figuratively, informal) Something that is elusive.
   • With the study in this chapter, we continue the hunt for the Heffalump to answer the 'who is the entrepreneur' question [...]. The Heffalump is a character from Winnie-the-Pooh that has been hunted by many individuals using various ingenious trapping devices, but no one has succeeded in capturing...2008, Eva Cools, “The Hunt for the Heffalump Continues: Who is the Flemish Entrepreneur?”, in Hans Landström, Hans Crijns, Eddy Laveren, David Smallbone, editors, Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Growth...
3. (derogatory, slang) A clumsy or overweight person.
   • Violet, under the auspices of Jacques-Yves Cabillaud, had been continuing to expand her childish girth. At two she had already been pronounced a heffalump; by seven, she was the size and shape of a barrel.1997, Liz Jensen, “The Scrapie Dinosaur”, in Ark Baby, London: Bloomsbury, published 2011, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   All are derogatory unless otherwise labeled, butterball, chod, chodder, chubbs, chubster, chunker, chunky monkey, elephant, fat

   Antonyms:

   thin person