pachyderm
nounUK /ˈpæk.ɪˌdɜː(ɹ)m/
Etymology Borrowed from French pachyderme, equivalent to pachy- (“thick”) + -derm (“skin”).
2
Informal An elephant.
- 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.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 132:
- Among five score pachyderm / Each canopied and passengered / Sit the duke and the duchess' luscious young girls2005, The Decemberists, “The Infanta”, in Picaresque:
1 more example
- 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.2025 June 27, Michael M. Grynbaum, “The Concorde-and-Caviar Era of Condé Nast, When Magazines Ruled the Earth”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Jun 2025:
3
Figuratively A person with thick skin; someone who is not affected by or does not care what others say about them.
4
Figuratively Someone who is insensitive.
- Derived terms
- pachydermal, pachydermic