Basic Details
Word: Eluding
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Escaping from someone or something, often cleverly; also failing to be remembered or understood (the answer kept eluding me).
Synonyms: evading, escaping, avoiding, dodging
Antonyms: facing, confronting
Sounds like: alluding (referring to something without naming it directly)
How to Spell Eluding
Syllables: e - lud - ing
Tricky part: Elude drops its final e before ing, and there is only one l. Do not confuse it with alluding, which begins with al.
Watch out for: eludeing, elluding, illuding
Memory tip: E for escape: eluding and escaping both begin with e. The a-word, alluding, is about hinting at something.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The thief kept eluding the police by hiding in crowded markets.
Example 2: The answer to the riddle kept eluding Ananya until bedtime.
Example 3: A leopard has been eluding forest officers near the village for weeks.
Fun Fact
Elude comes from Latin eludere, from e (out) and ludere (to play), so it once meant to play your way out of trouble. The board game Ludo takes its name from Latin ludo, I play.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the word closest in meaning to eluding in this sentence:
For three days the escaped parrot kept eluding everyone who tried to catch it in the orchard.
a) trapping
b) evading
c) feeding
d) chasing
Show answer
b) evading. Eluding means slipping away from someone, as evading does.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
eludeing
a) u
b) e
c) l
d) d
Show answer
b) e. Elude loses its final e when ing is added, just as hide becomes hiding.
Spell-o-Spell
Find the correctly spelt word in the list and choose its meaning.
1. eluding 2. exagerating 3. imediately 4. occured
a) escaping or avoiding cleverly
b) happened
c) at once, without delay
d) making something seem bigger than it is
Show answer
a) escaping or avoiding cleverly. Exaggerating needs gg, immediately needs mm and occurred needs rr; eluding has no double letter and is spelt right.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Fill in the blank: 'In her speech, the principal was ____ to last year's floods without naming them.'
a) illuding
b) deluding
c) eluding
d) alluding
Show answer
d) alluding
2. A name that keeps eluding you is one you ____.
a) love
b) spell easily
c) cannot remember
d) write often
Show answer
c) cannot remember
