elude
/ɪˈljuːd/
"elude" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“elude” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #37,904 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #37,904
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To evade or escape from (someone or something), especially by using cunning or skill.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | elude |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɪˈljuːd/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #37,904 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “elude” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for elude is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪˈljuːd/. Corpus data places it at rank #37,904 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for elude, with forms such as "eldue", "ellude", and "eludde". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "evade", "erode", "etude", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin ēlūdō (“to evade, elude”), from ē- (“out of”, short form of ex-) + lūdō (“to play; to trick”). The correct English form is elude, spelled E-L-U-D-E.
Definition
- 1To evade or escape from (someone or something), especially by using cunning or skill.
- 2To shake off (a pursuer); to give someone the slip.
- 3To escape being understandable to; to be incomprehensible to.
- 4To escape someone's memory, to slip someone's mind.
Etymology
From Latin ēlūdō (“to evade, elude”), from ē- (“out of”, short form of ex-) + lūdō (“to play; to trick”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eldue,ellude,eludde,elued,eulde,leude
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of elude - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “elude”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-L-U-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪˈljuːd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “evade” - see the side-by-side comparison. elude vs evade
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.