verb
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to escape or avoid (capture, one's pursuers, etc), esp by cunning
-
to avoid fulfilment of (a responsibility, obligation, etc); evade
-
to escape discovery, or understanding by; baffle
the solution eluded her
Usage
Elude is sometimes wrongly used where allude is meant: he was alluding (not eluding) to his previous visit to the city
Synonym Usage
See escape.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of elude
First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin ēlūdere “to deceive, evade,” equivalent to ē- “from, out of” + lūdere “to play, deceive”; see e- 1
Explanation
Elude means "evade or escape," like the way you might elude the other kids during a game of hide-and-seek. This word can also mean "to be hard to understand." No matter how hard you try, the finer points of quantum physics might elude you. Elude has a slippery feeling to it. You elude the police, math can elude you — and that yak you went to see on safari but never got a glimpse of, you might say that he has eluded you as well. Delude means "to deceive," and there are times when someone can both delude and elude you — like when the conman took your money and then escaped out the back door.
Vocabulary lists containing elude
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Outsiders
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Grade 9, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But for reasons that still elude scientists, this arrangement falls apart when seawater warms too much and the algae leave or are expelled.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
While McIlroy's relief and joy at finally landing the one major to elude him came pouring out on the 18th green, Justin Rose watched on - wondering what might have been.
From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026
Prizes may elude Liu this awards season, but she should be in the conversation.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025
She already felt guilty enough for her fatal misjudgment of Reckzeh, who would survive the war and repeatedly elude attempts to bring him to justice afterward.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025
To elude the exam panic around me, I avoided my schoolmates and stuck to Bright, little suspecting it was he of all people who would shatter my peace.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
