elephantine
Americanadjective
-
pertaining to or resembling an elephant.
-
huge, ponderous, or clumsy.
elephantine movements; elephantine humor.
adjective
-
denoting, relating to, or characteristic of an elephant or elephants
-
huge, clumsy, or ponderous
Etymology
Origin of elephantine
1620–30; < Latin elephantinus < Greek elephántinos. See elephant, -ine 1
Explanation
Something elephantine is huge, bulky, and a little clumsy, much like an elephant. Riding a bicycle in a rainstorm while trying to hold an elephantine super-sized soda is a bad idea. An elephant is one of the largest animals in the world — even the babies weigh more than most people! So, things that are also enormous can be called elephantine. Other big animals — like whales — are elephantine. A cake that could feed fifty people is elephantine. If you owe a lot of money, that’s an elephantine debt. Elephantine things can also be unwieldy and bulky or just plain huge. Anything elephantine is extra-large.
Vocabulary lists containing elephantine
A Lexical Zoo of Animal Adjectives
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
More Animal Adjectives
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Living Large: Synonyms for "Big"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It is often assumed that elephantine ponderousness is the price that must be paid for their storytelling heft.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026
“My wobbling, elephantine car is no match for his agile V12 Mercedes, but I somehow keep up,” he writes.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2025
Its existence suggests that other elephantine asteroids, veiled by the sun’s glare, remain disconcertingly undiscovered.
From New York Times • Oct. 31, 2022
Despite Casey’s protestations, the dog somehow ends up in her backpack, and when Clifford blows up to elephantine proportions, it sets off a series of wild adventures through the city.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 9, 2021
The elephantine flying horses that had pulled the carriage were now grazing in a makeshift paddock alongside it.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
