as in slippery
hard to find, capture, or isolate
the giant squid is one of the ocean's most elusive inhabitants
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of elusive
Imagine carrying a device in your pocket that can measure sea level rise with pinpoint accuracy, detect earthquakes hundreds of kilometers away, or even help hunt for elusive dark matter.
—
Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2025
But the bull was elusive, and Skeet was still trying to snag it.
—Mitch Moxley, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2025
Sheer Tights Calzedonia Diamond Tights The Italian look is built on composition over content; the magic of an outfit lies in the elusive details.
—Abbey Hudetz, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2025
Removing the sales tax from fuel sales has been the elusive white whale in decades of road funding discussions.
—Paul Egan, Freep.com, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elusive
Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2025
But the bull was elusive, and Skeet was still trying to snag it.
—Mitch Moxley, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2025
Sheer Tights Calzedonia Diamond Tights The Italian look is built on composition over content; the magic of an outfit lies in the elusive details.
—Abbey Hudetz, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2025
Removing the sales tax from fuel sales has been the elusive white whale in decades of road funding discussions.
—Paul Egan, Freep.com, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elusive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elusive
Adjective
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Firm surfaces are slowly replaced with slippery mud, sand, snow, and ice that force you to alter your rhythm and tread extremely lightly just to make incremental progress.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
23 Sep. 2025
-
Whether personally or professionally, finances could be slippery right now.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The finding of methane in gas form could be due to either the presence of a tenuous atmosphere on Makemake, or a more transient activity such as that experienced by comets when its volatiles sublimate, or from cryovolcanic plumes, according to the study authors.—
Andrew Jones,
Space.com,
28 Sep. 2025
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Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer.—
Liz Tracey,
JSTOR Daily,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The huge amounts of space junk in orbit, ranging from nuts and bolts to rocket fairings and dead satellites, pose a serious hazard to satellites and the International Space Station, which has to regularly take evasive action to dodge space shrapnel, much of which is moving faster than a bullet.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
16 Sep. 2025
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Meanwhile, my attempts to live in the moment, even those abetted by meditation, have felt squishy, uncertain, and evasive.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Elusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elusive. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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