adjective
rareDifficult to find, catch, or achieve; elusive.
‘He must be one of the most elusory characters in Hollywood.’- ‘In his latest essay, he grapples with the fact that those costs have become painfully evident, and the larger concerns of security, justice and freedom increasingly elusory.’
- ‘This freedom, however, proves even more elusory for them than it did for Easy Rider's protagonists, when the supply of dope dries up unexpectedly.’
- ‘I felt I had truly come to know this contradictory and elusory person and came to have even greater respect for the sweep and magnificence of his achievements’
- ‘In this context, truth was elusory, and scepticism, cynicism, relativism and atheism were present under a veil of orthodoxy.’
ambiguous, baffling, puzzling, misleading, evasive, equivocal, deceptive
Origin
Early 17th century from medieval Latin elusorius, from Latin elus- ‘eluded’ (from the verb eludere).
Are You Learning English? Here Are Our Top English Tips