Pachyderm

Definitions

1. A member of the obsolete taxonomic order Pachydermata, grouping of thick-skinned, hoofed animals such as the rhinoceros, hippopotamus, elephant and tapir.
   obsolete
2. An elephant.
   informal
3. A person with thick skin; someone who is not affected by or does not care what others say about them.
   figuratively
4. Someone who is insensitive.
   figuratively

Equivalents

Examples

“And so it happened that before the elephant realized that his new enemy had leaped from his path Tarzan had driven his iron-shod spear from behind the massive shoulder straight into the fierce heart, and the colossal pachyderm had toppled to his death at the feet of the ape-man.”

“Among five score⟳ pachyderm / Each canopied and passengered / Sit⟳ the duke and the duchess' luscious young girls”

“In September 2008[…] Portfolio rented an elephant to illustrate⟳ an article about JPMorgan Chase’s credit derivatives desk, because the editors had decided on the headline “The $58 Trillion Elephant in the Room.” Condé spent about $30,000 photographing the pachyderm, instead of using a stock⟳ image.”

CEFR level