How to pronounce “elusive”
Say “elusive” in 3 beats
elusive
/ɪˈlusɪv/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ɪluːsɪv/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- ɪɪ
- lulustress
- sɪvsɪv
- IPA (American)
- /ɪˈlusɪv/
- IPA (British)
- /ɪluːsɪv/
- Respelling
- i-LOO-siv
- Syllables
- 3 — ɪ-LU-sɪv
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: ɪ-LU-sɪv. “lu” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/ɪˈlusɪv/
/ɪluːsɪv/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
What “elusive” means
- adjective
difficult to describe
“a haunting elusive odor”
- adjective
skillful at eluding capture; - David Kline
“a cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist”
- adjective
difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
“his whole attitude had undergone a subtle change”
Say it in a sentence
“Sleep was elusive on the night before the results came.”The sounds inside this word
Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.
“elusive”, answered
How do you pronounce “elusive”?
“elusive” is pronounced /ɪˈlusɪv/ (i-LOO-siv) in American English and /ɪluːsɪv/ in British English — 3 syllables, stressed on “lu”. Build it as ɪ-LU-sɪv, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “elusive” have?
3: ɪ · lu · sɪv. The beat lands on the second, “lu”.
Is “elusive” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /ɪˈlusɪv/ (i-LOO-siv); British English says /ɪluːsɪv/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “elusive” mean?
As an adjective: difficult to describe For example: “a haunting elusive odor” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “elusive”?
Stress the second syllable: ɪ-LU-sɪv. “lu” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Now say “elusive” and see every sound
Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.