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 ēlūsus, past participle of ēlūdere, to elude; see elude.
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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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 4084 more...
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Fairylike
fairylike, enchanted, pixieish, pixyish, impish, mischievous, fluttery, magical, bewitching, enchanting, fey, otherworldly and 126 more...
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ghost
This is Ghost List 2 ( the kind that go 'boo!' ) :P
phantom, spectral, specter, spectre, spooky, poltergeist, haunt, spirit, banshee, cryptic, shadow, phantasm and 294 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 24 more...
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Hiding in plain sight
anticryptic, camouflage, chameleon, xenomorphic, obfusc, stegnographic, stealth, dissemble, dissimulate, mask, masquerade, screen and 26 more...
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fancy essay words
hiatus, ontology, exegesis, hermeneutics, dialectics, demiurge, ascertain, contention, eschatological, synecdoche, centripetal, centrifugal and 86 more...
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Poetry
lucid, silhouette, ethereal, illumination, serenity, requiem, adieu, celestial, esoteric, myriad, ebony, kaleidoscope and 16 more...
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