evasive

[ih-vey-siv]

adjective

1. tending or seeking to evade; characterized by evasion.

   an evasive answer.

2. elusive or evanescent.

evasive

/ ɪˈveɪsɪv /

adjective

1. tending or seeking to evade; avoiding the issue; not straightforward

2. avoiding or seeking to avoid trouble or difficulties

   to take evasive action

3. hard to catch or obtain; elusive

Other Word Forms

• evasively adverb
• evasiveness noun
• nonevasive adjective
• nonevasively adverb
• nonevasiveness noun
• unevasive adjective
• unevasively adverb
• unevasiveness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of evasive¹

First recorded in 1715–25; evas(ion) + -ive

Example Sentences

In his review, Joseph Horowitz called the book “as honest and unassuming as Stokowski was evasive and flamboyant.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Complicating his situation further is his uncertain relationship with the spy-catcher—or “termite-hunter”—Faith, who is warm and friendly one minute, elusive and evasive the next.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“At that speed, you really only have a chance to spot such a small object at the very last moment, and then it is simply too late to take evasive action,” he said.

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The U.S. government was evasive about exactly what had happened, saying only that “the test program included experiments contributing to thermonuclear weapons research.”

Read more on Literature

But this evasive action was in sharp contrast to the driver who'd been on the incorrect side of the road.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• ambiguous 
• cagey 
• deceptive 
• false 
• misleading 
• unclear 
• vague