elusive - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

Things that are elusive hard to find, pin down, or remember. They slip right out of your grasp.

Ever try to catch a mouse? It's not easy, because mice are quick and elusive — they're tough to catch. Rabbits are speedy, so they're elusive too. Also, things that are tough to understand or describe are elusive — like the concepts of love and beauty. If you had an idea and then forgot it, the idea is elusive: it slipped away. Anything you can't get hold of, with your hands or with your brain, is elusive.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: elusive

1	adj	skillful at eluding capture
2	adj	difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
3	adj	making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: elusive

1

adj skillful at eluding capture

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

Synonyms: artful
marked by skill in achieving a desired end especially with cunning or craft

2

adj difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze

“that elusive thing the soul”

Synonyms:: subtle

: impalpable
imperceptible to the senses or the mind

adj difficult to describe

“a haunting elusive odor”

Synonyms: unidentifiable
impossible to identify

3

adj making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe

Synonyms:: baffling, knotty, problematic, problematical, tough

: difficult, hard
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure