elusive

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“
The pursuit of the elusive is a favourite theme with Watts, and is set forth by the picture "Mischief."

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Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Tending to elude capture, perception, comprehension, or memory: "an invisible cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist [himself]” (David Kline).
  2. adjective 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).

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (1)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (4)

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Examples (50)

  • The pursuit of the elusive is a favourite theme with Watts, and is set forth by the picture “Mischief.” Here a fine young man is battling for his liberty against an airy spirit representing Folly or Mischief. —  Watts
  • SCIENTISTS have discovered an elusive, alternative type of fat in adults which could hold the key to effortlessly shedding excess kilos. —  Original Signal - Transmitting Buzz
  • For now, though, he remains elusive -- believed either dead, sick or hiding out in the rugged border zones. —  Top Stories - Google News
  • The pursuit of the elusive is a favourite theme with Watts, and is set forth by the picture "Mischief." —  Watts (1817-1904)
  • The intimate enemy of terror is elusive, a will-o-the-wisp, the shadow behind you. —  Top Stories - Google News
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

subtle ·  fleeting ·  vague ·  disturb ·  intangible ·  alluring ·  ethereal ·  exotic ·  vivid ·  shadowy ·  incomprehensible ·  unreal
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Latin ēlūsus, past participle of ēlūdere, to elude; see elude.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin elusus, past participle of eludere, elude, + -ive.
 

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/əˈljusɪv/
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