Elusive (Adjective)
Meaning 1
Difficult to describe; "a haunting elusive odor".
Classification
All adjective clusters.
Related Words
Meaning 2
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".
Classification
All adjective clusters.
Examples
- The politician's popularity proved elusive, and no matter how many times the analysts studied the polls, they couldn't pinpoint what was behind it.
- Happiness was an elusive thing, something she thought she'd grasp, but it slipped away from her at every turn.
- He'd spent his whole life trying to grasp that elusive quality of true genius that his mentors possessed, but he'd yet to master it.
- Trying to measure and track something as elusive as motivation can be notoriously tricky.
- Artistic expression is a form of translation that converts our intuitive perception of an elusive thought or concept into communicable and universal ideas.
Synonyms
Related Words
Meaning 3
Skillful at eluding capture; "a cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist"- David Kline.
Classification
All adjective clusters.
Related Words
Meaning 4
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".
Classification
All adjective clusters.