illusive (2009-04-30)

Part of Speech: adjective

Pronunciation: [i-'lu-siv]

Definition: Deceptive in appearance, appearing to exist but vanishing as you approach.

Usage: Hopes, dreams, and goals are most often illusive: "The loss of his driver's license has made Dusty Rhodes' dreams of becoming a stock car racer rather illusive." Illusive goals are not bad if they are not foolish, "Phyllis Limmer devoted most of her later years to the illusive goal of wearing her high school clothes again."

Suggested Usage: Several cousins of "illusive" share very similar meanings. "Delusive" refers to having delusions, wholly false beliefs or visions, while "elusive" implies an object that moves away as you approach, escaping capture or confirmation. The meanings of "illusive" and "delusive" are very similar but an illusion tends to vanish altogether when you approach it while a delusion is grossly false from the start. Today's word is a direct derivative of the verb illude "to deceive with false hope" and has a non-identical twin in "illusory," sharing exactly the same meaning. The noun is "illusion" and it, too, has an adjective, illusional "given to or characterized by illusions."

Etymology: From Latin illudere "to mock or ridicule" based on in- "not" + ludere "to play." The prefix in- "assimilates" to the initial sound of the word it attaches to, so it becomes il- before [l], ir- before [r] ("irreverent"), im- before sounds made by the lips ("importance, imbalance"). Yes, the same root appears in ludicrous "utterly ridiculous," based on Latin "ludicrus" which meant simply "sportive, playful" in that language.