evasive

[ ih-vey-siv ]
See synonyms for: evasiveevasiveness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. tending or seeking to evade; characterized by evasion: an evasive answer.

  2. elusive or evanescent.

Origin of evasive

1
First recorded in 1715–25; evas(ion) + -ive

Other words from evasive

  • e·va·sive·ly, adverb
  • e·va·sive·ness, noun
  • non·e·va·sive, adjective
  • non·e·va·sive·ly, adverb
  • non·e·va·sive·ness, noun
  • un·e·va·sive, adjective
  • un·e·va·sive·ly, adverb
  • un·e·va·sive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use evasive in a sentence

  • The responses were telling in their casuistry, their amorality, their evasiveness.

    The Hearing From Hell | Tunku Varadarajan | April 27, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • After years of evasiveness by the GOP, finally some frank talk about deficits from Obama and even from Hillary in China.

  • Annie was so intent with what she had to tell Alice that she did not realise the extreme evasiveness of the other's manner.

    The Butterfly House | Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
  • The fitful evasiveness of her manner when the subject was under discussion countenanced the idea.

  • "I didn't say," answered her mother with exasperating evasiveness.

    The Night Riders | Henry C. Wood
  • His companion glanced down at him sharply, but in his tranquil and half-somnolent face there was no trace of evasiveness.

  • I was glad to meet a man in this city of evasiveness whose views were positive, and who was eager to communicate them.

    The Unveiling of Lhasa | Edmund Candler

British Dictionary definitions for evasive

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

  1. hard to catch or obtain; elusive

Derived forms of evasive

  • evasively, adverb
  • evasiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012