Put another way it is a noticeable issue that is not acknowledged or addressed.
The elephant in the room idiom meaning.
We all sat sipping our tea quietly no one wanting to bring up the elephant in the room about joel s expulsion from college.
Elephant in the room is an english idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed.
The elephant in the room is an american phrase with murky origins the first reference being in 1935 to mean something obvious and incongruous.
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.
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.
The big elephant in the room his advisers also warned that iraq was the elephant in the room.
A topic that everyone is aware of but everyone avoids discussing.