Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Tending to elude capture, perception, comprehension, or memory: "an invisible cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist [himself]” ( David Kline).
- adj. Difficult to define or describe: "Failures are more finely etched in our minds than triumphs, and success is an elusive, if not mythic, goal in our demanding society” ( Hugh Drummond).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Eluding, or having a tendency to elude; hard to grasp or confine; slippery.
Wiktionary
- adj. evading capture, comprehension or remembrance
- adj. rarely seen
- adj. difficult to describe
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Tending to elude; using arts or deception to escape; adroitly escaping or evading; eluding the grasp; fallacious.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
- adj. skillful at eluding capture
- adj. making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
- adj. difficult to describe
Etymologies
- From Latin elusus past participle of eludo ("to parry a blow, to deceive") (Wiktionary)
- From Latin ēlūsus, past participle of ēlūdere, to elude; see elude. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Bringing the discussion up to date, Orr finds that Jorie Graham, Geoffrey Hill, and Derek Walcott today are considered the epitome of ambition, while the quieter Kay Ryan finds the label elusive.”
“He argued that unraveling these links is “devilishly” complex and thus “the connections between geology and wine will remain elusive for some time to come.””
Rocks for shocks: geologists don’t “debunk” terroir; minerality questioned | Dr Vino's wine blog
“Wickremesinghe was willing to forgo his long-term elusive presidential aspirations to former army commander Sarath Fonseka, whose entrance into politics was just as sudden and surprising as the ending of the war in which he played a significant role.”
The Huffington Post: Anuradha K. Herath: Sri Lanka's Opposition Party Crumbles in Public
“Mostly we aspire to write, and reaching toward something mysterious and elusive is where the work actually lives.”
“Beckjord's letter, Bigfoot, elusive, is still here touched on the non-flesh and blood mindset within some Bigfooters.”
“I like to think of myself as a domestic ninja - stealthily cleaning in elusive little bursts ...”
“Atlanta has overcome a lot of adversity, and have become sentimental favorite among some to win elusive second World”
“Whereas Mr. Obama remains a complicated, enigmatic figure -- in the profile it published the day he delivered his acceptance speech, the New York Times called him "elusive" -- Mr. McCain has come into focus, becoming a candidate voters can understand.”
“In fact, they’re already here but remain elusive leaving only their little red bite bump calling cards behind.”
“But with continuing government mandated domination of our national healthcare system, justice will remain elusive. datingjesus”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘elusive’.
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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MyWordList
for GRE Vocab Building
eccentricity, rife, epiphany, menial, assert, plod, scathing, petty, chum, dilatory, prolific, banal and 10 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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Introverted
Quiet, shy, Introverted, reserved, isolated, mysterious
abashed, alienated, alone, anonymous, antisocial, ascetic, asocial, austere, autonomous, awkward, bashful, clannish and 91 more...
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lost in translation
As a native Spanish speaker, I always found it easy to find words that were missing in the English language that conveyed the precise meaning I cared for in Spanish. In undertaking a writing projec...
surreptitious, elusive, nondescript, demeanor, mannerisms, nonsensical, numb, obfuscate, pervaded, preemptive, stagnate, resilient and 5 more...
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pretty
pretty words.
nymph, silhouette, cosmic, pixie, illumination, serendipity, starlight, wanderlust, moon, Lyra, lullaby, effervescent and 26 more...
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GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
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gre
divest, elixir, onerous, disabuse, sordid, discern, erudition, broach, beguile, apologia, elusive, capacious and 7 more...
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Poetry
lucid, silhouette, ethereal, illumination, serenity, requiem, adieu, celestial, esoteric, myriad, ebony, kaleidoscope and 16 more...
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1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, replete, steeped, eminent, perceive, intrepid, compound, automaton, reticent, interminable, drudgery and 288 more...
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Pretty Words
Words that sound pretty.
ethereal, ephemeral, iridescent, shimmer, wisp, whisper, charisma, crescent, azure, mystery, fantasy, miracle and 142 more...
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Prep my Lang
Collection of my wordnik word search
equivocal, anomaly, proliferate, assimilate, obscure, aberration, parse, circumnavigate, circumvent, decipher, prose, impasse and 94 more...
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Wordplay
reticent, slammerkin, moonstruck, zephyr, gallivant, hullabaloo, pandemonium, equestrian, wallflower, martyr, threadbare, treacherous and 180 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for elusive.
dailyword Obi-Wan used this word when he had a bad feeling about something. Jun 19, 2012
Kristianto2010 Wars continue to ravage innocent lives, domestic violence is a growing calamity, divorce rates soar, churches split, and peace in our restless and wayward hearts seems to be an elusive dream.
Dec 24, 2010