Elusive vs. Subtle

Elusiveadjective

Evading capture, comprehension or remembrance.

‘The elusive criminal was arrested’;

Subtleadjective

Hard to grasp; not obvious or easily understood; barely noticeable.

‘The difference is subtle, but you can hear it if you listen carefully.’;

Elusiveadjective

Difficult to make precise.

‘A precise definition of diarrhea is elusive (Robbin's pathology, 8th ed)’;

Subtleadjective

(of a thing) Cleverly contrived.

Elusiveadjective

Rarely seen.

Subtleadjective

(of a person or animal) Cunning, skillful.

Elusiveadjective

Tending to elude; using arts or deception to escape; adroitly escaping or evading; eluding the grasp; fallacious.

‘Elusive of the bridal day, she givesFond hopes to all, and all with hopes deceives.’;

Subtleadjective

Insidious, deceptive, malicious.

Elusiveadjective

difficult to describe;

‘a haunting elusive odor’;

Subtleadjective

Tenuous; rarefied; of low density or thin consistency.

Elusiveadjective

skillful at eluding capture;

‘a cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist’;

Subtleadjective

(obsolete) Refined; exquisite.

Elusiveadjective

be difficult to detect or grasp by the mind;

‘his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change’; ‘a subtle difference’; ‘that elusive thing the soul’;

Subtleadjective

Sly in design; artful; cunning; insinuating; subtile; - applied to persons; as, a subtle foe.

Elusive

was the first single for British singer-songwriter Scott Matthews and was released on 18 September 2006. The single received much airplay from BBC Radio DJs Jo Whiley, Dermot O'Leary and Zane Lowe between 7 and 10 August.

‘Elusive’;

Subtleadjective

Cunningly devised; crafty; treacherous; as, a subtle stratagem.

Subtleadjective

Characterized by refinement and niceness in drawing distinctions; nicely discriminating; - said of persons; as, a subtle logician; refined; tenuous; sinuous; insinuating; hence, penetrative or pervasive; - said of the mind; its faculties, or its operations; as, a subtle intellect; a subtle imagination; a subtle process of thought; also, difficult of apprehension; elusive.

‘Things remote from use, obscure and subtle.’;

Subtleadjective

Smooth and deceptive.

‘Like to a bowl upon a subtle ground [bowling ground].’;

Subtleadjective

be difficult to detect or grasp by the mind;

‘his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change’; ‘a subtle difference’; ‘that elusive thing the soul’;

Subtleadjective

faint and difficult to analyze;

‘subtle aromas’;

Subtleadjective

able to make fine distinctions;

‘a subtle mind’;

Subtleadjective

working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way;

‘glaucoma is an insidious disease’; ‘a subtle poison’;

Subtleadjective

(especially of a change or distinction) so delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyse or describe

‘his language expresses rich and subtle meanings’;

Subtleadjective

(of a mixture or effect) delicately complex and understated

‘subtle lighting’;

Subtleadjective

capable of making fine distinctions

‘a subtle mind’;

Subtleadjective

arranged in an ingenious and elaborate way

‘the German plan was simple yet subtle’;

Subtleadjective

making use of clever and indirect methods to achieve something

‘he tried a more subtle approach’;

Subtleadjective

crafty; cunning

‘the subtle fiend dissembled’;