white elephant

noun

1

: an Asian elephant of a pale color that is sometimes venerated in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar

2

a

: a property requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit

b

: an object no longer of value to its owner but of value to others

c

: something of little or no value

Did you know?

The real white elephant (the kind with a trunk) is a pale pachyderm that has long been an object of veneration in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar. Too revered to be a beast of burden, the white elephant earned a reputation as a burdensome beast—one that required constant care and feeding but never brought a single cent (or paisa or satang or pya) to its owner. One story has it that the kings of Siam (the old name for Thailand) gave white elephants as gifts to those they wished to ruin, hoping that the cost of maintaining the voracious but sacred mammal would drive its new owner to the poorhouse.

Examples of white elephant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The story of Hambantota is not one of China securing a geopolitical prize—the port is neither economically viable nor geographically suited for naval use—but one of Sri Lanka building a white elephant. —Audrye Wong, Foreign Affairs, 20 Apr. 2021

The meeting, which included a social time and white elephant exchange of gifts, drew 34 members from across San Diego County. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Feb. 2024

Its rival Airbus was the one struggling, on the verge of abandoning its $25 billion mistake, the A380 superjumbo jet that had turned out to be a white elephant with little demand from airlines or passengers. —Chris Isidore, CNN, 30 Jan. 2024

More big stories Queen Mary, once a sinking white elephant, shows signs of remarkable revival. —Shelby Grad, Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

white elephant

noun

: something requiring much care and expense and giving little profit or enjoyment

Etymology

so called from the fact that in India and neighboring countries, light-colored elephants are treated as sacred and kept without being put to work