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Furtive vs Elusive - What's the difference?

furtive | elusive | Synonyms |

Furtive is a synonym of elusive.


As adjectives the difference between furtive and elusive

is that furtive is stealthy while elusive is .

furtive

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • stealthy
  • Exhibiting guilty or evasive secrecy.
  • * 1949 , George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four , p31
    • But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control.

    Synonyms

    * (stealthy) surreptitious * See also

    Derived terms

    * furtively * furtiveness

    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)