elusive

See also: élusive

English

Etymology

From Latin elusus past participle of eludo (“to parry a blow, to deceive”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪˈl(j)uː.sɪv/, /iˈl(j)uː.sɪv/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪˈl(j)u.sɪv/, /iˈl(j)u.sɪv/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɪˈlʉ.sɪv/, /əˈlʉ.sɪv/
• Homophone: illusive

Adjective

elusive (comparative more elusive, superlative most elusive)

1. Evading capture, comprehension or remembrance.

   The elusive criminal was arrested

   • 2002, Meshuggah, Closed Eye Visuals:

     The temporary elusive goal / To reach the solace, to feed once more upon the synthetic reaper of loss / No matter the outcome, the cost

2. Difficult to make precise.
   • 2010, Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease:

     A precise definition of diarrhea is elusive

   • 1910, Jack London, chapter 6, in Lost Face‎^[1], archived from the original on 14 April 2011:

     Charley chased the elusive idea through all the nooks and crannies of his drowning consciousness.

3. Rarely seen.
   • 2002, Scott Roederer, Birding: Rocky Mountain National Park, page 93:

     While you're sniffing the trunks of the ponderosas to see if they're butterscotch, vanilla, strawberry, or the elusive chocolate variety, watch for Brown Creepers, an elusive variety of bird.

Usage notes

Do not confuse elusive (hard to find) with illusive (illusory).

Synonyms

• elusory

Derived terms

• elusively
• elusiveness
• unelusive

Related terms

• elude

Translations

evading capture, comprehension or remembrance

• Arabic: متملص m (mutamalliṣ), مراوغ m (murāwiḡ)
• Bulgarian: неуловим (bg) (neulovim), изплъзващ се (izplǎzvašt se)
• Catalan: elusiu
• Czech: nepolapitelný (cs)
• Dutch: ongrijpbaar (nl)
• Esperanto: nekaptebla
• Estonian: puiklik
• Finnish: välttelevä (fi), vaikeasti tavoiteltava, hämärä (fi)
• French: évasif (fr), insaisissable (fr), rare (fr)
• German: flüchtig (de), schwer fassbar
• Greek: ασύλληπτος (el) (asýlliptos), φευγαλέος (el) (fevgaléos)
• Hebrew: חֲמַקְמָק (he) m (ẖamaqmáq)
• Ido: nekaptebla (io)
• Italian: elusivo (it) m
• Latin: fugāx
• Persian: گریزان (fa), فراری (fa), مرموز (fa) (marmuz)
• Polish: nieuchwytny (pl) m
• Portuguese: elusivo, fugidio (pt)
• Romanian: evaziv (ro)
• Russian: неуловимый (ru) (neulovimyj), ускользающий (ru) (uskolʹzajuščij)
• Serbo-Croatian: lukav (sh), prepreden (sh), neuhvatljiv (sh)
• Spanish: elusivo, huidizo (es), escurridizo, esquivo (es), inaprensible (es)
• Swedish: gäckande (sv)

difficult to describe

• Chinese: Mandarin: 难以描述的 (nányǐmiáoshùdē), 难以捉摸 (zh) (Nányǐzhuōmō)，难以琢磨 (Nányǐzhuómó)
• Dutch: moeilijk beschrijfbaar
• Estonian: ebamäärane (et)
• Finnish: vaikeasti kuvailtava, vaikea kuvailla
• French: ambigu (fr), obscur (fr)
• German: schwierig (de), schwer fassbar, schwer zu beschreiben
• Polish: nieuchwytny (pl)
• Portuguese: elusivo
• Russian: труднодостижимый (ru) (trudnodostižimyj)
• Spanish: impreciso (es), inexacto, indefinible, ambiguo (es)

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.luˈzi.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: e‧lu‧sì‧ve

Adjective

elusive

1. feminine plural of elusivo