sleeping giant

American  

[slee-ping jahy-uhnt] / ˈsli pɪŋ ˈdʒaɪ ənt /

noun

1. someone or something whose strength has not been fully demonstrated or recognized but that, once provoked, will respond with unexpected force and extraordinary power.

   The Japanese admiral, anticipating the U.S. reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, allegedly said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.”

2. Ecology. an environmental condition or circumstance that has the potential for drastic consequences to one or more of the earth’s life systems.

   The rapidly melting glaciers of eastern Antarctica represent some of our planet’s most dramatic sleeping giants.

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Etymology

Origin of sleeping giant

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

As markets such as Brazil and Europe open up and reimbursement improves, investors could realize that the global opportunity for GLP-1s might be the real sleeping giant in Lilly’s story.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 18, 2025

Latinos are no longer the sleeping giant of American politics.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 30, 2024

Pastner said many of the same things when he arrived in 2016, calling Georgia Tech a sleeping giant even as he faced a massive rebuilding job.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 14, 2023

“It was just a sleeping giant sitting there not taking any advantage of the digital side,” he said.

From New York Times • Feb. 6, 2023

Danny had hoped the bricks turned into a secret doorway like the sleeping giant, but no matter how hard they tried, it wouldn’t give.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova