# sleeping giant

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/sleeping-giant
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

Someone or something with great, latent strength.

## Examples

- 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.

## Origin

A metaphor, maybe derived from Gulliver's Travels (1726), and made popular by the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, see quotations.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.