[
UK
/ɪlˈuːsɪv/
]
[ US /ɪˈɫusɪv/ ]
[ US /ɪˈɫusɪv/ ]
ADJECTIVE
-
difficult to describe
a haunting elusive odor -
skillful at eluding capture
a cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist -
difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
a subtle difference
that elusive thing the soul
his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change -
making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
a baffling problem
I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast
a problematic situation at home
How To Use elusive In A Sentence
- Music is too elusive an art to be quantified in this way. Times, Sunday Times
- Agreement about periodization, however, remains both fraught and elusive. The Times Literary Supplement
- 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.
- Yet the tigers of the Chitwan Valley can be elusive in the absence of propitiation by Tharu priests.
- Therefore the learning of many languages is injudicious, inasmuch as it arouses the belief in the possession of dexterity, and, as a matter of fact, it lends a kind of delusive importance to social intercourse. Esperanto: Hearings before the Committee on Education
- Nor did we find our elusive wolf. Times, Sunday Times
- I think he has something interesting to tell us about political alienation, but he is surprisingly elusive. Times, Sunday Times
- Even they though are underplayed these days, as hockey seeks to woo that elusive grail - the family audience.
- In the personal social services, needs are often elusive and intangible, and they are still very controversial. Introduction to Social Administration in Britain
- He leaned against the wall desperately trying to clear his mind but the memory proved elusive.