white elephant
The term "white elephant" originates from the ancient Thai practice of gifting rare and costly white elephants, which could be both a blessing and a financial burden due to their upkeep.
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Definition
B2General
(idiomatic)A possession that is expensive to maintain and offers little or no value.
Example
- The abandoned stadium turned into a white elephant for the city.
B2Gifts
(idiomatic)A gift that is impractical or unwanted, often causing more trouble than benefit.
Example
- She received a white elephant at the office party, a huge painting she had no space for.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "white elephant":
elephant legelephant trunkrogue elephantelephant trapelephant's trunkelephant walkelephants' graveyardelephant earelephant's footelephant juiceelephant applewhite whalesee the elephant