Elusive

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Elusive \E*lu"sive\, a.
     Tending to elude; using arts or deception to escape; adroitly
     escaping or evading; eluding the grasp; fallacious.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Elusive of the bridal day, she gives


           Fond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives. --Pope.
     -- {E*lu"sive*ly}, adv. -- {E*lu"sive*ness}, n.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  elusive
       adj 1: difficult to describe; "a haunting elusive odor"
       2: skillful at eluding capture; "a cabal of conspirators, each
          more elusive than the archterrorist"- David Kline [syn: {evasive}]
       3: be difficult to detect or grasp by the mind; "his whole
          attitude had undergone a subtle change"; "a subtle
          difference"; "that elusive thing the soul" [syn: {subtle}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  21 Moby Thesaurus words for "elusive":
     baffling, cagey, elusory, evanescent, evasive, fleeting, fugitive,
     impalpable, imponderable, incomprehensible, indefinable,
     insubstantial, intangible, malingering, mysterious, phantom,
     shifty, shirking, slippery, transitory, tricky