elusive

[ ih-loo-siv ]

adjective

1. eluding or failing to allow for or accommodate a clear perception or complete mental grasp; hard to express or define:

   an elusive concept.

2. cleverly or skillfully evasive:

   a fish too elusive to catch.

   Synonyms: baffling, puzzling, shifty, slippery, tricky

3. difficult to find:

   hoping that elusive donors will finally contribute.

elusive

/ ɪˈluːsɪv /

adjective

1. difficult to catch

   an elusive thief

2. preferring or living in solitude and anonymity
3. difficult to remember

   an elusive thought

Usage

See illusory

Derived Forms

• eˈlusively, adverb
• eˈlusiveness, noun

Other Words From

• e·lusive·ly adverb
• e·lusive·ness noun
• none·lusive adjective
• none·lusive·ly adverb
• none·lusive·ness noun
• une·lusive adjective
• une·lusive·ly adverb
• une·lusive·ness noun
• une·luso·ry adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of elusive¹

First recorded in 1710–20; elus(ion) + -ive

Example Sentences

For the most part, these mountain lions are staying elusive and sticking to eating their natural prey.

From Popular-Science

If seed rounds are becoming more elusive, maybe skip on that last hire, extend the runway, and try to gain some revenues.

From TechCrunch

This allows us to dramatically increase our digital inventory and efficiently offer this incredibly elusive audience to a whole new set of advertisers.

From Digiday

They must make assumptions not only about the virus’s biology, which remains far from fully understood, but about human behavior, which can be even more slippery and elusive.

From Quanta Magazine

However, establishing a causal relation between approaches to phonics instruction and gains in real reading has been more elusive.

From Washington Post

Huckabee will also need to establish a reliable fundraising base, something that up until now has proved to be elusive.

From The Daily Beast

As far as finally being acknowledged herself with that elusive Academy gold, well, Moore says she would not take it for granted.

From The Daily Beast

There will be a lot of talk about “sustainable” development, but so far that has been elusive.

From The Daily Beast

But the deliverance and liberation that has been longed for by Jews and Christians has proven to be an elusive thing.

From The Daily Beast

They are an elusive bunch, in motion or in the thrall of another time.

From The Daily Beast

That suddenly altered tone had awakened an elusive memory, but neither of them could succeed in identifying it.

From Project Gutenberg

Its elusive light lay upon the slope, but ledge and stone seemed less distinct than their shadows, which were black as ebony.

From Project Gutenberg

A faintly embarrassing situation this, even for an ancestor of the elusive Pimpernel.

From Project Gutenberg

The look in her face was quizzical, yet there was a strange, elusive gravity in her eyes, an almost pathetic appealing.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet the real difficulty is still before an author: it is to decide what stamp to put upon such elusive matter as ideas.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ambiguous
• fleeting
• illusory
• incomprehensible
• puzzling
• slippery
• subtle
• tricky
• volatile