evasive

[ ih-vey-siv ]

See synonyms for: evasive evasiveness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

tending or seeking to evade; characterized by evasion: an evasive answer.
elusive or evanescent.

Origin of evasive

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

Briefly dropping eye contact is natural in person but can come across as evasive on video.
Video conferences are here to stay, even after we go back to the office. Get used to it. | Karla Miller | February 4, 2021 | Washington Post
The professor who hired her had been so evasive about exactly what her salary would be that she had agreed to work a second job as governess for his two daughters.
How passion, luck and sweat saved some of North America’s rarest plants | Susan Milius | November 5, 2020 | Science News
Because the virus mutates rapidly and has several genotypes — seven have been identified to date — as well as dozens of subtypes, it is an evasive target for the immune system, and the development of a vaccine has been fruitless so far.
Scientists Win Nobel Prize for Discovering the Hepatitis C Virus | Jordana Cepelewicz | October 5, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
Some on the American right, however, exhibit none of Obama's evasiveness.
Neocon Scholar: Keep Bloodying The Brotherhood | Ali Gharib | August 16, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
His evasiveness has fueled Internet speculation that Rumsfeld may indeed be a lizard.
‘Rumsfeld’s Rules’ Review: Good Rules, Shame He Didn’t Follow Them | Dean Obeidallah | May 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

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.
Finally Some Straight Talk on the Deficit | Peter Beinart | February 23, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
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.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles | Thomas Hardy
"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.
Short Stories of Various Types | Various
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

tending or seeking to evade; avoiding the issue; not straightforward
avoiding or seeking to avoid trouble or difficulties: to take evasive action

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

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