elusive
/ɪˈl(j)uː.sɪv/
"elusive" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“elusive” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,604 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #15,604
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Evading capture, comprehension or remembrance.
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 | elusive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪˈl(j)uː.sɪv/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #15,604 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “elusive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for elusive is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪˈl(j)uː.sɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,604 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for elusive, with forms such as "ellusive", "elsuive", and "eluisve". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "evasive", "exclusive", "Elsie", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin elusus, past participle of eludo (“to parry a blow, to deceive”). The correct English form is elusive, spelled E-L-U-S-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Evading capture, comprehension or remembrance.
- 2Difficult to make precise.
- 3Rarely seen.
Etymology
From Latin elusus, past participle of eludo (“to parry a blow, to deceive”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ellusive,elsuive,eluisve,elusiev,elusivve,elussive,elusvie,eulsive,leusive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of elusive - 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 “elusive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-L-U-S-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪˈl(j)uː.sɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “evasive” - see the side-by-side comparison. elusive vs evasive
- 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.