elusive

Etymology

It is from Latin ēlūsus (“eluded”), the past participle of ēlūdō (“to elude, frustrate”), with the suffix -ive.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com instead form it from elusion and the same suffix.^[8][9] The Latin verb is from ē- (“out, away”) and lūdō (“to play”),^[2][4] itself from lūdus (“play”).^[2] Klein compares allusive and delusive.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of an argument, evasive, of the nature of a subterfuge: 1719, in Daniel Waterland's Vindication of Christ's Divinity;^[3] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster also date the word to 1719.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The earliest sense, of an evasive argument, soon died out.^[3][7] From 1725, in William Broome's part of Pope's Odyssey, the word meant "seeking to escape", with of: Johnson (1755) quoted the line "Elusive of the bridal day, she gives / Fond hopes to all" and defined the word as using arts to escape.^[3][10] From 1751 it described what slips from one's grasp or pursuit, chiefly in figurative use.^[3] Since 1830 it has also described what escapes clear perception or exact definition.^[3] The current sense, hard to find, catch or achieve, grew from these.^[11][12][8]

Timeline

• 1719 – of an argument, evasive (now obsolete).^[3]
• 1725 – seeking to elude, with of.^[3]
• 1751 – escaping one's grasp or pursuit.^[3]
• 1830 – escaping clear perception or exact definition.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Hard to find, catch or achieve: The championship stayed elusive for another decade.^{[11][12][8][9]}
2. Hard to define, describe or keep in mind: an elusive scent of jasmine.^[2][9][12]
3. Tending to avoid company or notice; shy and seldom seen.^[12][8]
4. (obsolete) Of an argument or answer: evasive.^[3][7]

Word family

• elusively
• elusiveness
• unelusive

Related words

• elude
• elusion
• illusive
• illusory
• allusive
• delusive
• ludicrous

Usage notes

Collins warns that illusive, "deceptive, unreal", is sometimes wrongly used where elusive is meant.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins