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
This would happen when the light of distant stars passes through the elusive matter.
—
Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2025
That’s what helped Hutson secure the elusive eight-year deal.
—Greg Liodice, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
After Texas produced little in the run game at Florida, Wisner proved elusive, dodging and breaking tackles to produce chunk plays and keep Texas moving down the field.
—Sam Khan Jr, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
Turnaround remains elusive For now, hopes of a bottom in China’s real estate slump look even more distant.
—Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elusive
Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2025
That’s what helped Hutson secure the elusive eight-year deal.
—Greg Liodice, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025
After Texas produced little in the run game at Florida, Wisner proved elusive, dodging and breaking tackles to produce chunk plays and keep Texas moving down the field.
—Sam Khan Jr, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
Turnaround remains elusive For now, hopes of a bottom in China’s real estate slump look even more distant.
—Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elusive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elusive
Adjective
-
Brain fog that made memories slippery.—
Eli Cahan,
Rolling Stone,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Defense is obviously a more slippery subject.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
In fact, the tranquility of the rocking waves, or maybe the transient, ineffable quality of the water, seems to have lodged in Christian’s brain.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
7 Oct. 2025
-
The recent brightening could be a transient outburst rather than a steady increase as the comet approaches to the sun, only time will tell.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Poehler’s portrayal of the attorney general was of an evasive Trump loyalist who loves to play the victim and insult senators.—
William Vaillancourt,
Rolling Stone,
12 Oct. 2025
-
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh and OC Greg Roman have been evasive on the matter of the Hassan Haskins–Kimani Vidal workload split.—
Andy Behrens,
New York Times,
11 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Elusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elusive. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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