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
The science of tuning DPPs The researchers have come up with a clever way to tame these elusive waves.
—
Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2025
Beautiful, elusive and peppered with provocative nuggets about the nature of life and our place in it, Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend is the Venice Film Festival’s parting gift to all those who have lasted the distance.
—Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025
And yet as the majority of parents of infants will tell you, sleep remains elusive.
—Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 4 Sep. 2025
In a new paper, two of us (Krystal and Karan) teamed up with a group of researchers, including postdoctoral researcher Anjali Yelikar, to look at ripples in space-time to spot a few of these elusive black holes merging.
—Bill Smith, JSTOR Daily, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elusive
Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2025
Beautiful, elusive and peppered with provocative nuggets about the nature of life and our place in it, Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend is the Venice Film Festival’s parting gift to all those who have lasted the distance.
—Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025
And yet as the majority of parents of infants will tell you, sleep remains elusive.
—Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 4 Sep. 2025
In a new paper, two of us (Krystal and Karan) teamed up with a group of researchers, including postdoctoral researcher Anjali Yelikar, to look at ripples in space-time to spot a few of these elusive black holes merging.
—Bill Smith, JSTOR Daily, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elusive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elusive
Adjective
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The Supima cotton sheet set is made with a sateen weave, offering a light sheen like you’d get in bamboo sheets without the slippery feel.—
Nashia Baker,
Architectural Digest,
10 Sep. 2025
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But more problematic to the scientists today is that the eels are nocturnal, good at hiding and very, very slippery.—
Wesley Bruer,
CNN Money,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Few of the permanent employees expected to fill 8,500 slots have been hired, and the bulk of the current workforce is transient – single men on temporary visas or contracts, rotating through for months at a time.—
Dalia Faheid,
CNN Money,
8 Sep. 2025
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No notice, just like when the city added several dollars in transient occupancy taxes to every guest bill with virtually no notice on May 1.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Trumpian doublespeak is always evasive, even when accurate.—
Chris Brennan,
USA Today,
29 Aug. 2025
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All of this resulted in Car 63 having to brake heavily and take evasive action.—
Nelson Espinal,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Elusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elusive. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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