elusive

elusive

hard to express or define: an elusive concept; tricky, slippery; baffling; shifty: an elusive felon

Not to be confused with:

allusive – having reference to something implied or referred: The clever remark was allusive to Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.

illusive – deceptive; misleading: an illusive alibi; false; unreal; imaginary: an illusive reference to ghosts and goblins

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elusive

hard to express: an elusive concept; cleverly evasive: an elusive con man; tricky, slippery, shifty, baffling

Not to be confused with:

illusive – deceptive, misleading; of the nature of an illusion; unreal; false; imaginary; fancied: an illusive appearance of the deceased during a séance.

Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

e·lu·sive

 (ĭ-lo͞o′sĭv, -zĭv)

adj.

1. Tending to elude capture, perception, comprehension, or memory: "an invisible cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist [himself]" (David Kline).

2. Difficult to define or describe: "Failures are more finely etched in our minds than triumphs, and success is an elusive, if not mythic, goal in our demanding society" (Hugh Drummond).

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[From Latin ēlūsus, past participle of ēlūdere, to elude; see elude.]

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e·lu′sive·ly adv.

e·lu′sive·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

elusive

(ɪˈluːsɪv)

adj

1. difficult to catch: an elusive thief.

2. preferring or living in solitude and anonymity

3. difficult to remember: an elusive thought.

eˈlusively adv

eˈlusiveness n

Usage: See at illusory

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

e•lu•sive

(ɪˈlu sɪv)

also e•lu•so•ry

(-sə ri, -zə-)

adj.

1. eluding one's clear perception; hard to express or define.

2. skillfully evasive.

[1710–20; elus (ion) + -ive]

e•lu′sive•ly, adv.

e•lu′sive•ness, n.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	elusive - difficult to describe; "a haunting elusive odor" unidentifiable - impossible to identify
	2.	elusive - skillful at eluding capture; "a cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist"- David Kline artful - marked by skill in achieving a desired end especially with cunning or craft; "the artful dodger"; "an artful choice of metaphors"
	3.	elusive - difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze; "his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change"; "a subtle difference"; "that elusive thing the soul" subtle impalpable - imperceptible to the senses or the mind; "an impalpable cloud"; "impalpable shadows"; "impalpable distinctions"; "as impalpable as a dream"
	4.	elusive - 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" baffling, knotty, problematic, problematical, tough difficult, hard - not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure; "a difficult task"; "nesting places on the cliffs are difficult of access"; "difficult times"; "why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

elusive

adjective

1. difficult to catch, tricky, slippery, difficult to find, evasive, shifty I had no luck in tracking down this elusive man.

2. indefinable, puzzling, fleeting, subtle, baffling, indefinite, transient, intangible, indescribable, transitory, indistinct an attempt to recapture an elusive memory

3. evasive, puzzling, misleading, baffling, ambiguous, fraudulent, deceptive, illusory, equivocal, fallacious, unspecific, oracular, elusory an elusive answer

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

elusive

adjective

Characterized by or exhibiting evasion:

evasive, slippery.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

schwer fassbar

ασύλληπτοςφευγαλέος

esquivo

ebamääranepuiklik

évasifinsaisissable

nehezen megfogható

ingannevolesfuggente

ongrijpbaar

forsvinnendeunnalurendeunnvikende

evaziv

nepolapiteľný

ele geçmezkaypak

躲避的

elusive

[ɪˈluːsɪv] ADJ [prey, enemy] → esquivo, escurridizo; [thoughts, word] → inaprensible; [success] → esquivo, difícil de conseguir
he is very elusive → no es fácil encontrarlo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

elusive

[ɪˈluːsɪv] adj

[person, animal] → insaisissable

[quality, happiness, success] → insaisissable; [win, title, goal, prize] → hors d'atteinte; [solution, answer] → difficile à trouver

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

elusive

adj

truth → schwer fassbar; goal, target, success → schwer erreichbar; (= unattainable) → unerreichbar; happiness seems to be an elusive state for some people → Glück scheint für manche Menschen ein unerreichbarer Zustand zu sein; there was an elusive quality about Robert → Robert hatte etwas schwer Fassbares an sich (dat); financial success proved elusive → der finanzielle Erfolg wollte sich nicht einstellen; his answer to my question was elusive → er antwortete mir ausweichend

person → schwer zu erreichen; animal → scheu; prey → schwer zu fangen; he remained elusive → er blieb unauffindbar

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

elusive

[ɪˈluːsɪv] adj (prey, enemy) → inafferrabile; (thoughts, word, success) → che sfugge; (glance) → sfuggevole
he is very elusive → è proprio inafferrabile

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

elude

(iˈluːd) verb

1. to escape or avoid by quickness or cleverness. He eluded his pursuers. ontwyk يَتَمَلَّص من избягвам esquivar-se uniknout entwischen undslippe; slippe fra ξεφεύγω, ξεγλιστρώ eludir, escapar käest ära lipsama گریختن؛ جیم شدن väistää échapper à לְהִתחָמֶק हाथ नहीं आना, धोखा देकर निकल जाना, दृष्टि बचाकर चला जाना izbjeći megmenekül menghindari sleppa undan eludere 避ける 잘 피하다 pasprukti nuo izvairīties melepaskan diri ontsnappen aan slippe/vri seg unna, unndra segwymknąć się څنګ كولو ډډه كول، ځان بچول: (اصط) تيرول، تيرايستل esquivar-se a scăpa (de) ускользать uniknúť izmakniti se uteći undkomma, undfly หลบหลีก kurtulmak, atlatmak 逃避 уникати بچ نکلنا lảng tránh 逃避

2. to be too difficult etc for (a person) to understand or remember. The meaning of this poem eludes me. ontgaan يَفوتُه ، يَسْتَصْعِب فَهْمُهُ أو تَذَكُّرُه труден escapar uniknout sich entziehen ikke rigtigt fatte; ikke kunne huske διαφεύγω, δε γίνομαι εύκολα αντιληπτός eludir mõistetamatuks jääma به یاد نیاوردن olla käsittämätön jollekulle échapper à לְהישָמֵט समझने या याद करने में मुश्किल izmaknuti kifog vkin sulit reynast óskiljanlegur sfuggire a ～に理解されない 이해되지 않다 būti nepagaunamam, išslysti nespēt atcerēties; iziet no prāta sulit ontgaanikke riktig få tak i meningen; bli borte for umykać ځان بچول escapar a scăpa не приходить на ум uniknúť ne biti jasno zbunjivati undfly ยากที่จะจำ anlayamamamak; hatırlayamamak 難倒 не приходити в голову, не спадати на думку یاد کرنے یا سمجھنے میں مشکل ہونا vượt quá sự hiểu biết 难倒

eˈlusive (-siv) adjective

escaping or vanishing, often or cleverly. an elusive criminal. ontsnap مُتَمَلِّص، لا يَصْعُب فَهْمُه، لا يُدْرَك неуловим ardiloso nepolapitelný; prchavý schwer faßbar svær at holde fast φευγαλέος, που εξαφανίζεται ή ξεφεύγει esquivo tabamatu گریزان؛ گریزپا saavuttamaton insaisissableמשתמט, מתחמק भ्रान्तिजनक koji izmiče, varav nehezen megfogható sulit ditangkap sem erfitt er að henda reiður á; bragðvís elusivo, inafferrabile 捕えにくい 파악하기 어려운 nepagaunamas nenotverams; izvairīgs; grūti iegaumējams/paturams prātā sulit ditangkap ongrijpbaarunnvikende, forsvinnende, unnalurende wymykający się غولوونكى، تيرايستونكى، هك پك كوونكى، اريانوونكى ardiloso care nu poate fi prins неуловимый nepolapiteľný uhajajoč neobjašnjiv svår (omöjlig) att få tag i, gäckande หลบเลี่ยงอย่างแกมโกง kaypak, ele geçmez 躲避的 ухильний; невловимий مشکل الحصول trốn tránh 躲避的

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.