white elephant

英 [ˌwaɪt ˈelɪfənt]

美 [ˌwaɪt ˈelɪfənt]

n.  昂贵而无用之物

牛津词典

noun

• 昂贵而无用之物
  a thing that is useless and no longer needed, although it may have cost a lot of money
  1. The new office block has become an expensive white elephant.
     这座新办公大楼成了昂贵的摆设。

柯林斯词典

• N-COUNT 昂贵而无用的东西;华而不实的东西
  If you describe something as awhite elephant, you mean that it is a waste of money because it is completely useless.
  1. The pavilion has become a £4 million steel and glass white elephant.
     这个耗资400万英镑、用钢与玻璃所构筑起的亭子已经成了一个华而不实的摆设。

英英释义

noun

• albinic Indian elephant
• a valuable possession whose upkeep is excessively expensive

双语例句

• A motor-car would be a white elephant to him, because he can't drive it.
  摩托车对他一点用都没有，因为他不会驾驶。
• Who would have thought to meet a white elephant.
  谁会想到会遇到一头白象啊！
• I told him a white lie, which made him white with fury, but when he realized his project is a white elephant, his face turned as white as a sheet.
  我向他撒了一个善意的谎言，却引来他的勃然大怒。但当他发现自己的工程毫无价值的时候，他顿时脸色苍白。
• The pavilion has become a £ 4 million steel and glass white elephant.
  这个耗资400万英镑、用钢与玻璃所构筑起的亭子已经成了一个华而不实的摆设。
• Jan's factory is an absolute white elephant.
  简的那个工厂成了一个大包袱。
• Not only that, due to clumsy government planning, when the sealink is finished it will be in danger of becoming a white elephant.
  不仅如此，由于政府笨拙的规划，当sealink大桥完工后，可能会成为白象那样的累赘之物。
• That is a white elephant.
  那是一个无用而累赘的东西。
• Buying such a white elephant is simply wasting money.
  买这样大而无用的东西完全是浪费金钱。
• The project was believed to be nothing but a white elephant.
  这个项目被认为只是一项沉重的负担。
• A car is a white elephant forr me.
  对我而言，小汽车是个昂贵而无用的东西。