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Elusive vs Shifty - What's the difference?

elusive | shifty | Related terms |

Shifty is a synonym of elusive.



As adjectives the difference between elusive and shifty

is that elusive is evading capture, comprehension or remembrance while shifty is having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable; such as someone with shifty eyes.

elusive

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Evading capture, comprehension or remembrance.
    • The elusive criminal was arrested
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=1910 , author=Jack London , title=Lost Face , chapter=6 citation , passage=Charley chased the elusive idea through all the nooks and crannies of his drowning consciousness.}}
  • Rarely seen.
  • *
  • Difficult to describe.
    • A precise definition of diarrhea is elusive (Robbin's pathology, 8th ed)

    Related terms

    * (l)

    shifty

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable; such as someone with shifty eyes .
    • He was a shifty character in a seedy bar and I checked my wallet was still there after talking to him.
  • Subject to frequent changes in direction.
  • * 1971 , Henry Handel Richardson, Ultima Thule (page 121)
    • Off he raced, shuffling his bare feet through the hot, dry, shifty sand. But it was no good: she didn't care.
  • Full of, or ready with, shifts or expedients.
    • (Wright)
  • * Charles Kingsley
    • Shifty and thrifty as old Greek or modern Scot, there were few things he could not invent, and perhaps nothing he could not endure.