elusive
/ɪˈluːsɪv/ (bre, ipa) · /ɪˈluːsɪv/ (ame, ipa) · /ē-ˈlü-siv -ˈlü-ziv/ (ame, mw)
elusive — adjective
- elusivepositive
- more elusivecomparative
- most elusivesuperlative
1. describing someone or something that keeps escaping your efforts — whether you a
describing someone or something that keeps escaping your efforts — whether you are trying to catch them physically, understand an idea, achieve a goal, or recall a memory.
The snow leopard is an elusive animal native to the mountains of Central Asia.
elusive + animal
Shirin spent years chasing an elusive cure for the rare disease affecting her village.
elusive + goal / cure
Anong could almost grasp the memory, but it remained frustratingly elusive.
The concept of justice can feel elusive even to experienced legal scholars.
Roya was determined to interview the elusive filmmaker who never gave press interviews.
- evasive
More active and deliberate — a person who is evasive is actively dodging questions or blame, whereas elusive can be neutral.
- slippery
Informal; suggests clever escape or avoidance, often of a person who keeps getting away.
- fleeting
Emphasises briefness rather than difficulty — something that disappears quickly, not necessarily through active evasion.
- intangible
Strictly abstract; for concepts without physical form, lacking the sense of active resistance that elusive carries.
- obvious
Easily noticed or understood; the opposite of hard to grasp.
- accessible
Easy to reach or obtain; the opposite of hard to achieve or find.
- clear
Easily understood; the opposite of hard to comprehend.
文法句型
elusive + noun
be/remain + elusive
elusive to + someone (less common)
用法筆記
Frequently placed before a noun (attributive) or after a linking verb (predicative) such as 'remain', 'prove', or 'feel'. The word implies that the target actively resists or evades your efforts — it is not merely difficult, but persistently out of reach.