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more elusive

ADJECTIVE

evasive, mysterious

Synonyms

STRONGEST

ambiguous fleeting illusory incomprehensible puzzling slippery subtle tricky volatile

WEAK

baffling cagey deceitful deceptive difficult to catch elusory equivocal evanescent fallacious fraudulent fugacious fugitive greasy imponderable indefinable insubstantial intangible misleading occult phantom shifty shy stonewalling transient transitory unspecific

Antonyms

STRONGEST

definite honest intelligible stable understandable

WEAK

attracting confronting encountering enticing facing inviting

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The closer you look the more elusive the actual definition is.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

A pause now looks increasingly probable, and consensus is more elusive than ever.

From Barron's • Oct. 31, 2025

California’s bats are more elusive than those to the east that can amass in the thousands in caves and mines.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 31, 2024

Yet fame, as you acknowledge, is a much more elusive concept, and often, one that is not about the test of time.

From Salon • May 25, 2024

In some ways the story made less sense each time he read it, the scenes he pictured so vividly, and absorbed so fully, growing more elusive and profound.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri