invoke
Americanverb (used with object)
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invokes,
present (3rd person singular)
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invoked,
past participle, past
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invoking
present participle
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to call for with earnest desire; make supplication or pray for.
to invoke God's mercy.
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to call on (a deity, Muse, etc.), as in prayer or supplication.
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to declare to be binding or in effect.
to invoke the law;
to invoke a veto.
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to appeal to, as for confirmation.
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to petition or call on for help or aid.
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to call forth or upon (a spirit) by incantation.
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Computers. to cause to be displayed, opened, or executed by clicking on a link, entering a search term, changing a parameter, etc..
Press and hold the R key to temporarily invoke the Rotate View tool, then drag your document to rotate.
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to cause, call forth, or bring about.
verb
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to call upon (an agent, esp God or another deity) for help, inspiration, etc
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to put (a law, penalty, etc) into use
the union invoked the dispute procedure
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to appeal to (an outside agent or authority) for confirmation, corroboration, etc
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to implore or beg (help, etc)
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to summon (a spirit, demon, etc); conjure up
Usage
What does invoke mean? Invoke means to intensely call for something or call on someone, especially as in a prayer to a god or higher power, as in The holy woman invoked God’s mercy in her prayers. Invoke can also mean to call for help from someone (again, usually a god), as in The shamans invoked the gods to save them from the invading army. Invoke may also refer to stating that something is in effect, like a law or rule, as in The police invoked the new littering law when they fined Demetri for tossing his soda bottle on the ground. And invoke can mean to call or conjure a spirit or demon, as in The warlock invoked a group of infernal imps to do his evil bidding. Example: The ritual is meant to invoke the wrath of the gods and bring misfortune to the people’s enemies.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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invokesimple
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invokessimple
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have invokedperfect
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has invokedperfect
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am invokingprogressive
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are invokingprogressive
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is invokingprogressive
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have been invokingperfect progressive
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has been invokingperfect progressive
Past
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invokedsimple
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had invokedperfect
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was invokingprogressive
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were invokingprogressive
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had been invokingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of invoke
First recorded in 1480–90; from Latin invocāre, equivalent to in- in- 2 + vocāre “to call,” akin to vōx voice
Explanation
To invoke is to call up something such as a law, a higher power, or even a ghost. In court, you might invoke the Fifth Amendment (the right not to say something that will make you look bad) if you don't want to talk. You can invoke all kinds of people or ideas, alive or dead: "She invokes the spirit of good writing when she proofreads her work." In a time of need, you might invoke a higher power. You could invoke Martin Luther King when talking about equal rights. You might even invoke the spirit of your dead cat at a séance. Just make sure you don't evoke (to bring on a strong emotional reaction) your dead cat; that would just be weird.
Vocabulary lists containing invoke
Latin Love, Vol I: vocare
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"The Odyssey," Vocabulary from Part 1 of the epic poem
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Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Their calculations suggest that cosmic acceleration could emerge naturally from Einstein's equations, potentially eliminating the need to invoke mysterious dark energy.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
The ads don’t invoke climate concerns or hint at hard choices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
On Saturday at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City, Cong will be hoping she can invoke the same emotions in Brazilian Natalia Silva, when the pair fight for the vacant flyweight world title.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
“Renting forever doesn’t invoke a lot of confidence in our future finances,” Mortensen said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
In all this discussion of the Fertile Crescent’s advantages for the early rise of food production, we have not had to invoke any supposed advantages of Fertile Crescent peoples themselves.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
That, of course, includes the very Hindus whose beliefs Ramaswamy so frequently invokes.
From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2026
As evidence, he invokes, throughout the book, numerous instances of one nation waging war on another, or assisting U.S. forces against rival tribes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
The Orthodox liturgy of St. John Chrysostom invokes Christ’s prayer when we ask for the “union of all.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The self-described "anarcho-capitalist" invokes the "creative destruction" theory of US-Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter to describe how old industries inevitably fold in the face of innovation.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
America’s patriotic song “America the Beautiful” invokes our spacious skies, our amber waves of grain, from sea to shining sea.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
“The statistical findings in the studies invoked by petitioners are extraordinarily disturbing,” Bonta wrote in his reply to the order in August.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
She says she has faced a coordinated smear campaign against her, which has at times invoked her son's death and accusations that she is betraying his memory.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026
The judge said the US government had invoked two conventions to secure Marimi's appearance in a US court.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
He is allergic to the presumption that anyone, including the Fed, can fine-tune the economy, and invoked the Lucas critique at one of his first news conferences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
To this day the edict remains, but rarely needs to be invoked, because few are foolish enough to impersonate a scythe.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
He framed his confrontation with Tshisekedi as a fight against authoritarianism, invoking Section 64 of the constitution, which calls on citizens to resist anyone who seizes power or exercises it in violation of constitutional provisions.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
The researchers argue that this instability may offer a natural route to accelerated cosmic expansion without adding a cosmological constant or invoking dark energy.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
Arellano: Becerra goes for the jugular against Hilton by invoking Huntington Beach!
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
But that deference cannot come simply from invoking the words national security.
From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2026
Anya wondered if invoking his father’s name was going to cause trouble for Ivan’s family at all.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
