as in illusory
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Recent Examples of illusive
Context: The visionary director, known for his dark and illusive films, died in January.
—
Kim Bojórquez, Axios, 13 Mar. 2025
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be in communication or to lurk on their pages — especially when Venus retrograde links up with illusive Neptune on March 27th.
—Lisa Stardust, refinery29.com, 27 Feb. 2025
The month wraps up with a very special cosmic event, as illusive and intuitive Neptune will leave your sign for the first time in nearly 15 years, ingressing into fiery Aries.
—Nina Kahn, StyleCaster, 24 Feb. 2025
The ever-illusive Banksy, whose real identity remains a mystery, was not always so secretive, reveals the BBC.
—The Editors Of Artnews, ARTnews.com, 16 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for illusive
Kim Bojórquez, Axios, 13 Mar. 2025
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be in communication or to lurk on their pages — especially when Venus retrograde links up with illusive Neptune on March 27th.
—Lisa Stardust, refinery29.com, 27 Feb. 2025
The month wraps up with a very special cosmic event, as illusive and intuitive Neptune will leave your sign for the first time in nearly 15 years, ingressing into fiery Aries.
—Nina Kahn, StyleCaster, 24 Feb. 2025
The ever-illusive Banksy, whose real identity remains a mystery, was not always so secretive, reveals the BBC.
—The Editors Of Artnews, ARTnews.com, 16 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for illusive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illusive
Adjective
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The idea that transparency offers a route to closure is already proving illusory.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
24 Apr. 2026
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Its sense of one of the most famous buildings in world history is romantic, fantasy filled and illusory.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
19 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
If consequences are optional, deterrence is imaginary.—
Darlene Mealy,
New York Daily News,
25 Apr. 2026
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As Siâvash increasingly retreats into imaginary characters, the documentary traces a sibling relationship shaped and strained by displacement, set against a backdrop of escalating tension between Iran and the United States that carries personal consequences for both subjects.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
This isn’t callousness or delusive optimism but, rather, a rebellion against the suffocating expectation that the elderly have foreclosed the possibility of joy.—
Hillary Kelly,
The New Yorker,
21 Feb. 2024
-
To separate art from its historical framework is futile, and to reject it in an effort to censor past violence is a delusive act of virtue signaling.—
WSJ,
WSJ,
5 July 2022
Adjective
-
Guest reveals concerns about deceptive display.—
,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
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Chicago arts venues are united in their disdain for the deceptive practice.—
Noel Brennan,
CBS News,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Don’t force a quick fix, but don’t ignore what’s obvious.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
25 Apr. 2026
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Likewise the only evidence that Trump might not be crazy is his obvious determination to seem so.—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Sometimes a person opens the top of their skull to reach inside; in her painting Threading the Story Through the Eye of a Needle (circa 1974), a hand pulls a line of thread through a pupil, towing two tiny people in a boat, suggesting both sight and an idea made manifest.—
Nicole Rudick,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
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The truth of those words is manifest in the myriad structures from the Mughal era (1526–1857) that have survived for centuries after the fall of the empire, which at its height stretched across nearly the entire Indian subcontinent.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
However, he was later granted a new trial after a judge ruled that star witness Duane Deaver, a State Bureau of Investigation crime lab agent, provided misleading and false testimony, per WRAL.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
26 Apr. 2026
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The Cass County Emergency Services Board, National Weather Service and Everbridge are investigating the cause of the misleading notifications.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
25 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
That is delusory of course, but it can be fashioned into a victory claim that might well be readily embraced by war-weary and war-wary Russians in the public and among the elite.—
John Mueller,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Nov. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Illusive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illusive. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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