<p>Disclosed is a highly heat-resistant organic EL element which can be driven at a lower voltage. Specifically disclosed is an organic electroluminescent element which comprises a plurality of organic semiconductor layers that include a light-emitting layer and are arranged in the form of a laminate between a pair of anode and cathode facing each other. At least one of the organic semiconductor layers contains a bulky organic semiconductor compound in which at least three aromatic substituents are in an aromatic multi-membered ring structure and the dihedral angle between the ring plane of the aromatic multi-membered ring structure and the ring plane of the at least three aromatic substituents, as determined by a semiempirical molecular orbital calculation method, is 70-90°.</p>
