elusive

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   skillful at eluding capture

   a cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist- David Kline

2. 2
   adj

   difficult to describe

   a haunting elusive odor

3. 3
   adj

   Evading capture, comprehension or remembrance.

   The elusive criminal was arrested

4. 4
   adj

   Difficult to make precise.

   A precise definition of diarrhea is elusive

5. 5
   adj

   Rarely seen.

   While you're sniffing the trunks of the ponderosas to see if they're butterscotch, vanilla, strawberry, or the elusive chocolate variety, watch for Brown Creepers, an elusive variety of bird.

6. 6
   adj

   making great mental demands

7. 7
   adj

   difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze

Etymology

From Latin elusus, past participle of eludo (“to parry a blow, to deceive”).