elude

verb

ē-ˈlüd

eluded; eluding

Synonyms of elude next

transitive verb

: to avoid adroitly : evade

the mice eluded the traps

managed to elude capture

: to escape the perception, understanding, or grasp of

subtlety simply eludes them

victory continued to elude us

: defy sense 2

it eludes explanation

Choose the Right Synonym for elude

escape, avoid, evade, elude, shun, eschew mean to get away or keep away from something.

escape stresses the fact of getting away or being passed by not necessarily through effort or by conscious intent.

nothing escapes her sharp eyes

avoid stresses forethought and caution in keeping clear of danger or difficulty.

try to avoid past errors

evade implies adroitness, ingenuity, or lack of scruple in escaping or avoiding.

evaded the question by changing the subject

elude implies a slippery or baffling quality in the person or thing that escapes.

what she sees in him eludes me

shun often implies an avoiding as a matter of habitual practice or policy and may imply repugnance or abhorrence.

you have shunned your responsibilities

eschew implies an avoiding or abstaining from as unwise or distasteful.

a playwright who eschews melodrama

Examples of elude in a Sentence

The killer was able to elude the police. The killer has eluded capture. The cause of the disease continues to elude researchers.

Recent Examples on the Web Cavalcante was captured Wednesday after eluding hundreds of searchers for two weeks. —

Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 14 Sep. 2023 Those long-standing goals largely eluded Biden’s predecessors, as relations with the region’s largest and most dominant country, Saudi Arabia, have waxed and waned. —

Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 13 Sep. 2023 Citations for fleeing and eluding and other traffic violations were subsequently prepared. —

cleveland, 12 Sep. 2023 Despite his impact in film, Lee has previously reflected on how awards had largely eluded him until his Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay for Blackkklansman. —

Carita Rizzo, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2023 So far, the pilfering otter has eluded authorities. —

Dino Grandoni and Melina Mara, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Sep. 2023 While Hurts has enjoyed success that so far has eluded Jones, Hurts believes Jones has better football ahead of him. —

Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 10 Sep. 2023 In 2011, Williams used it together with a raft of other techniques to prove that a certain restricted model of computation couldn’t solve some extraordinarily hard problems — a result that had eluded researchers for 25 years. —

Quanta Magazine, 5 Sep. 2023 But even after cleaning the telescope, the buzz remained, eluding all explanation for nearly a year. —

Dennis Overbye Hiroko Masuike, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'elude.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.