elephantine
/,eli'fæntain/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Extremely large, heavy, and clumsy; resembling an elephant in size or characteristics: Used to describe something of enormous mass, bulk, or scale, often with an implication of being unwieldy or slow-moving.
Usage
- The word "elephantine" is used to emphasize not just large size, but also a ponderous, massive, and sometimes awkward quality. It is a formal or literary term.
- It is typically used attributively (before a noun) or predicatively (after a linking verb like "was" or "seemed").
Examples
- The elephantine statue dominated the town square, casting a long shadow.
- The bureaucracy's elephantine procedures made progress frustratingly slow.
- Her movements were elephantine as she tried to navigate the crowded room in her heavy winter coat.
Advanced Usage
- "Elephantine memory": An idiom suggesting an exceptionally powerful or long-lasting memory, akin to the folk belief that elephants never forget.
- The professor had an elephantine memory for historical dates.
Variants and Related Words
- Elephant (n): The large mammal from which the adjective derives its meaning.
- Elephantiasis (n): A medical condition causing extreme swelling of body parts, metaphorically related to excessive enlargement.
Synonyms
- Colossal: Extremely large.
- Gargantuan: Enormous, gigantic.
- Massive: Large and heavy or solid.
- Ponderous: Slow and clumsy because of great weight.
- Jumbo (informal): Very large.
Antonyms
- Minuscule: Extremely small.
- Tiny: Very small.
- Petite: Small and slender.
Idioms and Phrases
- Elephant in the room: A major problem or controversial issue that is obviously present but avoided as a subject for discussion. (Note: This is a common idiom using "elephant," not the adjective "elephantine," but is semantically related through the concept of large, unavoidable presence).
Adjective
- of great mass; huge and bulky
- a jumbo jet
- jumbo shrimp