sleeping giant
Someone or something with great, latent strength.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“That quiet company is a sleeping giant in the tech market.”
“Many experts believe the country's economy is a sleeping giant that will soon dominate global trade.”
“The political movement, long dismissed as irrelevant by the establishment, proved to be a sleeping giant that eventually reshaped the entire nation.”
first recorded 18th c.
A metaphor, maybe derived from Gulliver's Travels (1726), and made popular by the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, see quotations.
- 01
dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants
One who discovers by building on previous discoveries.
- 02
gentle giant
A person or animal of a great size or strength, yet who is of a friendly nature and not aggressive or threatening.
- 03
let a sleeping dog lie
Alternative form of let sleeping dogs lie.
- 04
let sleeping dogs lie
To leave things as they are; especially, to avoid restarting or rekindling an old argument; to leave disagreements in the past.
- 05
mistake windmills for giants
To perceive ordinary, nonthreatening objects or situations as significant dangers or adversaries, often due to an overly romantic, idealistic, or deluded worldview.
- 06
one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind
(used imitatively) A cliché used to exaggerate an accomplishment or milestone.
- 07
sleeping at the switch
Alternative form of asleep at the switch.
- 08
sleeping policeman
A speed bump.
Last updated August 10, 2026