Pachyderm

//ˈpæk.ɪˌdɜː(ɹ)m// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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. 2
    any of various nonruminant hoofed mammals having very thick skin: elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus wordnet
  3. 3
    An elephant. informal

    "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."

  4. 4
    A person with thick skin; someone who is not affected by or does not care what others say about them. figuratively
  5. 5
    Someone who is insensitive. figuratively

Synonyms

All synonyms
elephanthippomammoth

Example

More 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."

Etymology

Borrowed from French pachyderme, equivalent to pachy- (“thick”) + -derm (“skin”).

Related phrases

thick skin

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.