elusive
Americanadjective
-
eluding or failing to allow for or accommodate a clear perception or complete mental grasp; hard to express or define.
an elusive concept.
-
cleverly or skillfully evasive.
a fish too elusive to catch.
-
difficult to find.
hoping that elusive donors will finally contribute.
adjective
-
difficult to catch
an elusive thief
-
preferring or living in solitude and anonymity
-
difficult to remember
an elusive thought
Other Word Forms
- elusively adverb
- elusiveness noun
- nonelusive adjective
- nonelusively adverb
- nonelusiveness noun
- unelusive adjective
- unelusively adverb
- unelusiveness noun
- unelusory adjective
Etymology
Origin of elusive
Compare meaning
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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.
This suggests that the very beginning of the domestication process remains elusive in the archaeological record.
From Science Daily
The 38-year-old was planning to use the event from January 12 as a springboard to the opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park where he is targeting an 11th title and elusive 25th major crown.
From Barron's
The art was reissued later that year by Random House in a one-volume trade edition, helping to make Kent’s turbulent engravings—of Captain Ahab, the Pequod’s crew and the elusive white whale—iconic.
If you’re longing for the elusive Season 3 of “Big Little Lies” or a similar crime-laced psychological thriller led by powerhouse women, Apple TV might be able to scratch that itch with this upcoming drama.
From Los Angeles Times
But Maduro was elusive in a state TV interview with a Spanish journalist.
From Barron's
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.
