white elephant

white elephant noun: a possession that is unwanted or is a financial burden; an unprofitable investment. Also the ellipsis of white elephant exchange.

Image: Anonymous ( Thailand ) Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

white elephant (plural white elephants)

(figuratively) A possession that is unwanted or is a financial burden; an unprofitable investment.
- South Australia's "white elephant" was really going to prove a valuable possession after all!1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 140
- Some of the stadiums being built for the World Cup soccer tournament, scheduled for next year, have also been criticized for delays and cost overruns, and have become subjects of derision as protesters question whether they will become white elephants.2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 Jun 2013
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see white, elephant.

Also used as

white elephant is also the ellipsis of white elephant exchange.

white elephant meaning in Marathi, Telugu, Punjabi and Tagalog

white elephant in Marathi

an albino elephant: सफेद हत्ती saphed hattī

white elephant in Telugu

an albino elephant: ఐరావతం airāvataṁ

white elephant in Punjabi

an albino elephant: ਸਫ਼ੈਦ ਹਾਥੀ safaid hāthī

white elephant in Tagalog

unwanted possession, financial burden, unprofitable investment: puting elepante

More languagesFewer languages

white elephant in Malay: gajah putih
white elephant in Indonesian: gajah putih
white elephant in Thai: ช้างเผือก cháang-pʉ̀ʉak

Forms of white elephant

plural	white elephants

Origin of white elephant

In Siam, elephants were working animals. However, white (albino) elephants were considered sacred and therefore were not to be put to work. The owner was then left to feed the elephant but could get no work from it. It is said that the King of Siam used to make a present of a white elephant to courtiers he wanted to ruin.

Words formed from white elephant

Questions about white elephant

What does white elephant mean?: White elephant means a possession that is unwanted or is a financial burden; an unprofitable investment.
What is white elephant in Marathi?: White elephant in Marathi is सफेद हत्ती (saphed hattī). See White elephant meaning in Marathi.
What part of speech is white elephant?: White elephant is a noun.
What is the plural of white elephant?: The plural of white elephant is white elephants.

Words near white elephant in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: white elephant (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-white elephant.ogg.

Cite this entry: “white elephant.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/white_elephant. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.