elude

/əˈlud/

/əˈlud/

Other forms: eluded; eluding; eludes

Elude means "evade or escape," like the way you might elude the other kids during a game of hide-and-seek. This word can also mean "to be hard to understand." No matter how hard you try, the finer points of quantum physics might elude you.

Elude has a slippery feeling to it. You elude the police, math can elude you — and that yak you went to see on safari but never got a glimpse of, you might say that he has eluded you as well. Delude means "to deceive," and there are times when someone can both delude and elude you — like when the conman took your money and then escaped out the back door.

Definitions of elude

1. verb

   escape, either physically or mentally
   “The thief eluded the police”

   synonyms: bilk, evade

   type of:

   break loose, escape, get away

   run away from confinement
2. verb

   avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
   synonyms: circumvent, dodge, duck, evade, fudge, hedge, parry, put off, sidestep, skirt

   types:

   beg, beg the question

   dodge, avoid answering, or take for granted

   quibble

   evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections

   type of:

   avoid

   stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something
3. verb

   be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by
   “What you are seeing in him eludes me”

   synonyms: escape

   types:

   defy, refuse, resist

   elude, especially in a baffling way

   beggar

   be beyond the resources of

   type of:

   amaze, baffle, beat, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, get, gravel, mystify, nonplus, perplex, pose, puzzle, stick, stupefy, vex

   be puzzling or bewildering to