Victor Frankenstein spent the last years of his life chasing his elusive monster, who was always one step of his creator.

Elusive means:

Xiu's timely joke served to diffuse the tension in the room, and the rest of the meeting was highly productive.

Diffuse means:

I completely lost track of Tula's point because she kept digressing to unrelated topics.

Digress means:

The senator evaded the question by changing the subject and accusing his opponent of misconduct.

Evade means:

Samantha hasn't said why she's been so withdrawn lately, but I would surmise that it is because she is still upset about not being able to go to camp.

Surmise means:

The details can be worked out later; what's important is that we agree with the crux of my argument, which is that everyone should be held equally accountable.

Crux means:

Marty kept interrupting the meeting with remarks that were not only tangential but downright irrelevant.

Tangential means:

Sunil honed his public speaking skills by practicing in front of a mirror each day until he felt confident about his abilities.

Hone means:

The evidence was incontrovertible, and the jury found the defendant guilty on all charges.

Incontrovertible means:

After listening to the couple speak for a few minutes, Eleanor quickly discerned that the underlying problem in their relationship was a lack of trust.

Discern means:

Ivan was writing an article for people who know nothing about computers, so he had to be sure he didn't use any jargon that would confuse readers.

Jargon means:

Adolfo often dresses in a rather eccentric way, but his beliefs are as conservative as can be.

Eccentric means:

To Hannah, who had never been on a ranch, Ted's job seemed glamorous and exotic, but Ted, who had lived on a ranch his whole life, thought the work was rather mundane.

Mundane means:

Matthew launched into a tirade when he discovered that his roommate had once again borrowed something without asking - and broken it.

Tirade means: