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Webster 1913 Edition

Elusive

E-lu′sive

,
Adj.
Tending to elude; using arts or deception to escape; adroitly escaping or evading; eluding the grasp; fallacious.
–
E-lu′sive-ly
,
adv.
–
E-lu′sive-ness
,
Noun.

Webster 1828 Edition

Elusive

ELU'SIVE

,
Adj.
Practicing elusion; using arts to escape.
Elusive of the bridal day, she gives
Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives.

Definition 2024

elusive

elusive

See also: élusive

English

Adjective

elusive ‎(comparative more elusive, superlative most elusive)

  1. Evading capture, comprehension or remembrance.
    The elusive criminal was arrested
    • 1910, Jack London, chapter 6, in Lost Face:
      Charley chased the elusive idea through all the nooks and crannies of his drowning consciousness.
  2. 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.
  3. (Can we clean up(+) this sense?) Difficult to describe.
    A precise definition of diarrhea is elusive (Robbin's pathology, 8th ed)

Related terms

Translations

Italian

Adjective

elusive f pl

  1. feminine plural of elusivo

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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