1
[ adjective ] difficult to describe

Examples

"a haunting elusive odor"

Used in print

(A.L. Kroeber, "Semantic Contribution of Lexicostatistic...)

the aspect of learning the internal organization of obvious natural genetic groups of languages as_well as their more remote and elusive external links ; of classification first , with elapsed age merely a by-product ; of acquiring evidential knowledge of what happened in Athabascan , in Yokuts , in Uto-Aztecan in the last few thousand years as_well as forecasting what more anciently may have happened between them .

Related terms

unidentifiable

2
[ adjective ] skillful at eluding capture

Synonyms

evasive

Examples

"a cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist"- David Kline

Used in print

(R. F. Shaw, "The `Private Eye`"...)

Beaten , bruised and exhausted , he pursues the elusive killer through the demi-monde of high_society and low morals , always alone , always despised .

Related terms

artful

3
[ adjective ] be difficult to detect or grasp by the mind

Synonyms

subtle

Examples

"his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change" "a subtle difference" "that elusive thing the soul"

Related terms

impalpable

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