Elusive — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

difficult to describe

skillful at eluding capture; - David Kline

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/ᵻlˈuːsɪv/

🇬🇧British English

/dɹˈɛdfəlnəs/

🇮🇳Indian English

/dɹˈɛdfəlnəs/

3 syllables Say it as /ᵻlˈuːsɪv/.

Examples

a haunting elusive odor
a cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist
his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

subtle tough problematical problematic knotty baffling

Parts of Speech

adjective	difficult to describe “a haunting elusive odor”
adjective	skillful at eluding capture; - David Kline “a cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist”
adjective	difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze “his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change”
adjective	making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe “a baffling problem”

Word Forms

elude	verb	be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by
elusiveness	noun	the quality of being difficult to grasp or pin down
knottiness	noun	puzzling complexity
problem	noun	a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved
toughness	noun	impressive difficulty

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

schwer fassbar

schwer zu beschreiben

🇫🇷French

insaisissable

difficile à décrire

🇪🇸Spanish

elusivo

difícil de describir

🇮🇹Italian

sfuggente

difficile da descrivere

🇳🇱Dutch

onaantastbaar

moeilijk te beschrijven

🇵🇹Portuguese

indescritível

difícil de descrever

🇷🇺Russian

неуловимый

трудно описать

India

🇮🇳Hindi

मायावी

वर्णन करना कठिन है

🇧🇩Bengali

অধরা

বর্ণনা করা কঠিন

🇮🇳Tamil

மழுப்பலான

விவரிக்க கடினமாக உள்ளது

🇮🇳Telugu

అంతుచిక్కని

వర్ణించడం కష్టం

🇮🇳Marathi

मायावी

वर्णन करणे कठीण

🇮🇳Gujarati

પ્રપંચી

વર્ણન કરવું મુશ્કેલ

🇮🇳Kannada

ತಪ್ಪಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗದ

ವಿವರಿಸಲು ಕಷ್ಟ

🇮🇳Malayalam

പിടികിട്ടാത്ത

വിവരിക്കാൻ പ്രയാസമാണ്

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਧੋਖੇਬਾਜ਼

ਵਰਣਨ ਕਰਨਾ ਮੁਸ਼ਕਲ ਹੈ

🇵🇰Urdu

مبہم

بیان کرنا مشکل ہے

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

难以捉摸的

难以描述

🇯🇵Japanese

とらえどころのない

説明するのが難しい

🇰🇷Korean

피하는

설명하기 어렵다

🇻🇳Vietnamese

khó nắm bắt

khó diễn tả

🇹🇭Thai

เข้าใจยาก

ยากที่จะอธิบาย

🇮🇩Indonesian

sukar dipahami

sulit untuk dijelaskan

🇵🇭Filipino

mailap

mahirap ilarawan

🇲🇾Malay

sukar difahami

sukar untuk digambarkan

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

بعيد المنال

من الصعب وصفها

🇮🇷Persian

گریزان

توصیف دشوار است

🇹🇷Turkish

yakalanması zor

tarif etmesi zor

🇮🇱Hebrew

חֲמַקמַק

קשה לתאר

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'elusive'?

The primary meaning of 'elusive' is 'difficult to describe'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'elusive' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'elusive' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'elusive' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'elusive' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'elusive' in your daily reading?

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Do you find 'elusive' easy to spell?

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In your opinion, does the word 'elusive' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

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Which age group is most likely to use 'elusive' in regular conversations?

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Would you classify 'elusive' as formal, casual, or slang?

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