If you describe someone as evasive, you mean that they deliberately avoid giving clear direct answers to questions.
He was evasive about the circumstances of his first meeting with Stanley Dean. [+about]
Direct questions would almost certainly result in evasive answers.
Synonyms: deceptive, misleading, indirect, cunning More Synonyms of evasive
evasivelyadverb [ADVERB with verb]
'I can't possibly comment on that,' Paul said evasively.
evasivenessuncountable noun [oft poss NOUN]
She looked at him closely to see if his evasiveness was intentional.
2.
See take evasive action
More Synonyms of evasive
evasive in British English
(ɪˈveɪsɪv)
adjective
1.
tending or seeking to evade; avoiding the issue; not straightforward
2.
avoiding or seeking to avoid trouble or difficulties
to take evasive action
3.
hard to catch or obtain; elusive
Derived forms
evasively (eˈvasively)
adverb
evasiveness (eˈvasiveness)
noun
evasive in American English
(iˈveɪsɪv; ɪˈveɪsɪv)
adjective
1.
tending or seeking to evade; not straightforward; tricky; equivocal
2.
hard to catch, grasp, etc.; elusive
Derived forms
evasively (eˈvasively)
adverb
evasiveness (eˈvasiveness)
noun
Word origin
< L evasus (see evasion) + -ive
Examples of 'evasive' in a sentence
evasive
That gives all the birds in the flock a better chance of taking evasive action.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
To do this, these banks would be expected to take evasive action.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The shifty look, the evasive stare, the implausible excuse.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They anxiously peered ahead for car crashes coming down the road and took evasive action.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The first is that any refusal to be specific will look shifty and evasive.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
One hardly knew whether to watch or take evasive action.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Again he received an evasive answer.
Aldiss, Brian Somewhere East of Life (1994)
The on-board artificial intelligence triggers an evasive manoeuvre if a crash seems likely.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
My questions brought only grudging, evasive answers.
Marsden, Philip The Crossing-Place (1993)
Be evasive in your answers, or try to bluff.
Fletcher, Clive How to Face Interviews (1981)
They owe us this money but their evasive actions have meant we haven't had a penny.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
And a police helicopter took evasive action after a mystery craft zoomed straight at it over Cardiff.
The Sun (2008)
The image of slippery, evasive politicians will be far more damaging than the details of the treaty.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
I noted his evasive answer and hoped this was merely his standard procedure.
Christianity Today (2000)
If employees are particularly evasive with their answers, you may then feel there is sufficient call to begin a disciplinary procedure.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
This may look like a dive, but half the time it is evasive action resulting in the player losing their balance.
The Sun (2014)
There have been a number of situations with the young Belgian where had he not taken evasive action he would have been clobbered.
The Sun (2014)
Downside: not advisable when meeting his parents - lack of eye contact looks evasive.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
By the time he'd corrected his flying, the enemy was already into another evasive manoeuvre.
Len Deighton Bomber
Despite his offer to MPs to go through the accounts, he still frequently looked evasive.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
And you did, actually, look evasive.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The PM did his best yesterday to stop looking evasive and admitted he completely failed to see the bank crisis coming.
The Sun (2009)
Her clear, direct voice and her great interviewing style means she gets very entertaining replies from celebrities and always manages to stop politicians giving evasive answers.
The Sun (2014)
British governments were notified no less than 15 times over the years; each time the answer was totally evasive.
The Sun (2009)
In other languages
evasive
British English: evasive ADJECTIVE
If you describe someone as evasive, you mean that they deliberately avoid giving clear direct answers to questions.
He was evasive about the circumstances of his first meeting with the president.
American English: evasive
Brazilian Portuguese: evasivo
Chinese: 避而不谈的
European Spanish: evasivo
French: évasif
German: ausweichend
Italian: evasivo
Japanese: はぐらかすような
Korean: 둘러대는
European Portuguese: evasivo
Latin American Spanish: evasivo
1 (adjective)
Definition
seeking to evade
He was evasive about the circumstances of their first meeting.
Synonyms
deceptive
misleading
The article contains several misleading statements.
indirect
The goods went by a rather indirect route.
cunning
He's a cunning, devious, good-for-nothing so-and-so.
slippery
a slippery customer
tricky
They could encounter some tricky political manoeuvring.
shuffling
devious
She tracked down the other woman by devious means.
oblique
It was an oblique reference to his time in prison.
shifty (informal)
He had a shifty face and previous convictions.
cagey (informal)
deceitful
dissembling
prevaricating
equivocating
sophistical
casuistic
casuistical
elusive
I had no luck in tracking down this elusive man.
Opposites
open
,
direct
,
straight
,
frank
,
straightforward
,
honest
,
candid
,
truthful
,
guileless
,
unequivocating
2 (adjective)
Definition
avoiding or seeking to avoid trouble or difficulties
Four high-flying warplanes had to take evasive action.
Synonyms
avoiding
escaping
circumventing
Additional synonyms
in the sense of cunning
Definition
clever at deceiving
He's a cunning, devious, good-for-nothing so-and-so.
Synonyms
crafty,
knowing,
sly,
devious,
artful,
sharp,
subtle,
tricky,
shrewd,
astute,
canny,
wily,
Machiavellian,
shifty (informal),
foxy,
guileful
in the sense of devious
Definition
insincere and dishonest
She tracked down the other woman by devious means.