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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Recent Examples of elusive
Science: An undersea telescope that looks like something from a sci-fi film detected an elusive particle that could help explain a mystery of space.
—
Natasha Frost, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2025
Aquarius, Mercury is adding an elusive fog to your money sector, and suddenly, finances feel like a dream (or a nightmare).
—Valerie Mesa, People.com, 13 Feb. 2025
This is not the first time scientists have turned to eDNA to investigate elusive animals.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2025
Of course, there’s every chance that this satellite experiment won’t detect dark matter either, but having more teams looking in more places will boost our odds of one day finding this elusive substance.
—Michael Irving, New Atlas, 12 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elusive
Natasha Frost, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2025
Aquarius, Mercury is adding an elusive fog to your money sector, and suddenly, finances feel like a dream (or a nightmare).
—Valerie Mesa, People.com, 13 Feb. 2025
This is not the first time scientists have turned to eDNA to investigate elusive animals.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2025
Of course, there’s every chance that this satellite experiment won’t detect dark matter either, but having more teams looking in more places will boost our odds of one day finding this elusive substance.
—Michael Irving, New Atlas, 12 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elusive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elusive
Adjective
-
Watch out for slippery roads: Be extra careful during the first half hour after rain begins.—
Bay Area Weather Report,
The Mercury News,
15 Feb. 2025
-
Mel Bochner, a conceptual artist who incisively explored the slippery relationship between language and art, died on February 12 at 84.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Although a prison population is naturally somewhat transient, some students were in his class for more than a decade, longtime friend Rachel Daly said.—
Jared Kaufman,
Twin Cities,
12 Feb. 2025
-
Civilizations are inevitably transient — rising, expanding, collapsing, disappearing.—
Christopher Knight,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Waldock and Cox both saw that as a clear evasive maneuver by the American Airlines pilot.—
Gary Fields,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Feb. 2025
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Investigators did not say whether that change in angle meant that pilots were trying to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid the crash.—
Stephen Sorace,
Fox News,
3 Feb. 2025
Articles Related to elusive
Cite this Entry
“Elusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elusive. Accessed 28 Feb. 2025.
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