Elephant in the room an obvious truth or fact especially one regarded as embarrassing or undesirable that is being intentionally ignored or left unaddressed.
The elephant in the room idiom meaning.
A topic that everyone is aware of but everyone avoids discussing.
The elephant in the room is an american phrase with murky origins the first reference being in 1935 to mean something obvious and incongruous.
Put another way it is a noticeable issue that is not acknowledged or addressed.
We all sat sipping our tea quietly no one wanting to bring up the elephant in the room about joel s expulsion from college.
If there is an elephant in the room it means that an obvious problem is being ignored.
Meaning of idiom elephant in the room the elephant in the room is a topic that is sensitive awkward or embarrassing and that no one wants to talk about but which is difficult to ignore.
In the 1950s the elephant in the room came to mean what it means today something enormous that people choose to ignore because it is uncomfortable to deal with.