Word Confusion: Allusive vs Delusive vs Elusive vs Illusive

Revised as of
19 June 2023

It’s an elusive concept, one that is difficult to capture as it is simply too easy to imagine a similarity between an idea that eludes or escapes with another idea that is simply an illusion of another.

For some reason, when I think of elude, I always think of the Scarlet Pimpernel, for they seek him here, they seek him there, that demned elusive Pimpernel!

As for the illusive, it’s always the ghosties for me. Sure, being illusive is a false idea or belief, a deception if you will. And I will always think first of a ghost as a representation of a person, but it will never be the flesh-and-blood man or woman, so it is illusive. A false promise of what had been.

Note: Delusive was added 30 November 2016 and is more of a purposeful lie, as opposed to the illusive which is more literary, poetic, in its lies.

Note: Allusive was added 1 July 2017 and can be quite subtle in its references to, well, anything.

You may also want to explore the posts, “Allusion vs Delusion vs Illusion” and/or “Allude versus Refer“.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Allusive	Delusive	Elusive	Illusive
Tracing the Berlin Wall by Colocho, Germany, is under the CC BY-SA 2.5 Generic license, via Wikimedia Commons. — A brick line is an allusive reference to where the Berlin Wall once stood.	U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau Seal is courtesy of the U.S. Government and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — Use of such a seal to indicate approval by the U.S. government is delusive and can lead to prosecution.	Osama bin Laden Portrait by Abdul Rahman bin Laden, the son of Osama bin Laden, took the photo and released it to Hamid Mir, a Pakistani news reporter with Canada Free Press at the time under the CC-BY-SA-3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — The elusive Bin Laden was finally stopped by the West.	Spatially Illusive Painting on Pottery, 360-350 BC, Taranto, Klas06, is Zde‘s own work is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective	Adjective	Adjective	Adjective
[Of a remark or reference] Working by suggestion rather than explicit mention Hint around without ever directly referring to it Having reference to something implied or inferred Containing, abounding in, or characterized by an indirect or passing reference [Obsolete] Metaphorical Symbolic Figurative	Giving a false or misleading impression Tending to delude Misleading Deceptive Of the nature of a delusion False Unreal	Difficult to find, catch, or achieve Difficult to remember or recall Preferring or living in solitude and anonymity Failing to allow for or accommodate a clear perception or complete mental grasp Hard to express or define Cleverly or skillfully evasive	[Chiefly poetic, literary] Deceptive, not real
Examples:
The jerk made some allusive references to my body. Samuel Hesed, Geoffrey Hill, and T.S. Eliot are highly allusive poets. I’m tired of his allusive speech. He should just say what he means. Ms. Jones’ delicately allusive poetry causes one to feel the joy of that first glorious love.	It was a delusive reply. Ah, the delusive light of Venice. He harbored a most delusive belief. Carrying a gun can be a delusive security.	Success only became more elusive. ‘Twas an elusive thought I’m chasing. She was quite an elusive thief. I simply cannot grasp so elusive a concept. Old Joe was a fish too elusive to catch. The no-kill shelter was hoping that elusive donors would finally contribute.	That illusive haven where no ills lie. It is an illusive beauty. Marilyn Monroe had that illusive it factor. The 2016 presidential campaign was littered with illusive inaccuracies.
Derivatives:
Adjective: allusory, unallusive Adverb: allusively, unallusively Noun: allusiveness, unallusiveness Verb: allude	Adjective: delusory, nondelusive, undelusive Adverb: delusively, undelusively Noun: delusion, delusiveness Verb, transitive: delude	Adjective: elusory, nonelusive Adverb: elusively, nonelusively Noun: elusion, elusiveness, nonelusiveness Verb, transitive: elude	Adjective: illusory, nonillusive Adverb: illusively, nonillusively Noun: illusion, illusiveness, nonillusiveness Verb, transitive: illude
History of the Word:
Mid-16th century denoting a pun, metaphor, or parable from the French or from the late Latin allus(ion-) + -ive, from the verb alludere.	Late Middle English in the sense of act of deluding or of being deluded is from the late Latin delus(ion) + -ive, from the verb deludere.	Early 18th century from the Latin elus- meaning eluded.	Early 17h century from the medieval Latin illusivus.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Allusive vs Delusive vs Elusive vs Illusive

Apple Dictionary.com

Dictionary.com: delusive, elusive, illusive

Stahl, Dawn McIlvain. “‘Lude’ Word Tricks: Allude, Delude, Elude, Illude.” ACES News. 1 Jan 2019. Web. 18 Oct 2019. <https://aceseditors.org/news/2019/lude-word-tricks-allude-delude-elude-illude>.

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Pinterest Photo Credits:

The original photo, Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2010, is by LeNair Xavier and was cropped and brightened by deerstop under the CC BY 2.0 license, Heath Ledger by Howie Berlin (Flickr) is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, and Owen Wilson in Cannes 2011 by Georges Biard is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; all three are via Wikimedia Commons. Sherlock Holmes by Wannapick Studio is under the CC BY 3.0 license. Spock, C2E2 2015, by Ben Alexander is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr.