allusive vs elusive
Definitions
adjective
- characterized by indirect references
Examples
Christian's works are secretive yet allusive, related yet solitary and, above all, tactile and handmade.
Above all, they are gestures by which the poet and the reader may together, through a sequence of allusive suggestions and corresponding recognitions, infuse the written text with breath.
In some ways the poem is the closest thing he would write to the method and manner of Eliot, with its mysterious, fragmentary dialogue and allusive range.
Definitions
adjective
- difficult to describe
- skillful at eluding capture
- difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
- making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
Examples
Music is too elusive an art to be quantified in this way.
Agreement about periodization, however, remains both fraught and elusive.
Wednesday's win was a pleasing, restorative result at a time when it was badly needed, but it would be delusive to read too much into it.
