Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: élusive
- Evading capture, comprehension or remembrance.
- The elusive criminal was arrested
1910, Jack London, chapter 6, in Lost Face:
- Charley chased the elusive idea through all the nooks and crannies of his drowning consciousness.
- Rarely seen.
2002, Scott Roederer, Birding: Rocky Mountain National Park, page 93:
- 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.
- (Can we clean up(+) this sense?) Difficult to describe.
- A precise definition of diarrhea is elusive (Robbin's pathology, 8th ed)
evading capture, comprehension or remembrance
difficult to describe
elusive f pl