Use “white elephant” for a costly possession, project, or facility whose usefulness does not justify its expense or burden. The guide stays with current documented meaning and does not assert unsupported origin chronology.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionPhrases & Idioms
Quick answer
Use “white elephant” for a costly possession, project, or facility whose usefulness does not justify its expense or burden.
Key details
Canonical Formwhite elephant
Core Meaningsomething expensive to acquire or maintain that has little useful purpose or is no longer wanted
Further guidance
History Boundary
Current dictionary-supported meaning is published without claiming an exact inventor, coinage date, or absolute first use.
Meaning
something expensive to acquire or maintain that has little useful purpose or is no longer wanted
Usage Boundary
The phrase is typically disapproving and focuses on costly uselessness or unwanted burden, not merely high price.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
A “blank check” can literally leave an amount unspecified or figuratively give someone very broad authority or freedom to act. The guide stays with current documented meaning and does not add unsupported origin chronology.
False economy describes a cost-cutting choice whose short-term saving is outweighed by later costs or disadvantages. The phrase is useful when the apparent economy is misleading rather than when something is merely expensive.
“Golden handcuffs” are valuable payments or benefits intended to make an employee stay rather than leave for another job. This guide stays with the current documented meaning and does not assert unsupported origin chronology.
A “golden handshake” is a substantial payment made to an employee when they leave a job, commonly as a reward for long or good service. This guide stays with the current documented meaning and does not assert unsupported origin chronology.
To “have skin in the game” is to have a direct personal stake in what happens, often a financial one. The guide keeps current meaning separate from unsupported origin claims.
A “sunk cost” is a cost already incurred that cannot be recovered; it describes the past cost itself, not automatically the mistake of continuing because of it. Do not confuse “sunk cost” with the “sunk-cost fallacy,” which is the separate decision-making error of letting irrecoverable past costs distort a current choice.
A “change of heart” means changing your opinion or feelings about something. The guide establishes the present-day idiom and does not invent an exact coinage or first-use account.
“A dime a dozen” is a chiefly US idiom for something very common, easy to find, and not especially distinctive. The wording can carry a dismissive tone when it suggests that something is readily replaceable.
