allusive vs elusive
Definitions
adjective
- characterized by indirect references
Examples
Christian's works are secretive yet allusive, related yet solitary and, above all, tactile and handmade.
The heavy-handed allusiveness may just be an aesthetic mistake, a secondary flaw we have to countenance while otherwise acknowledging the narrative power of the novel as a whole.
DreamWorks, in particular, has made the kind of allusive, parodic cultural self-consciousness that used to be called postmodernism safe for the whole family.
Definitions
adjective
- difficult to describe
- skillful at eluding capture
- difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
- making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
Examples
Music is too elusive an art to be quantified in this way.
Agreement about periodization, however, remains both fraught and elusive.
Wednesday's win was a pleasing, restorative result at a time when it was badly needed, but it would be delusive to read too much into it.
