evoke
Americanverb (used with object)
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evokes,
present (3rd person singular)
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evoked,
past participle, past
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evoking
present participle
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to call up or produce (memories, feelings, etc.).
to evoke a memory.
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to elicit or draw forth.
His comment evoked protests from the shocked listeners.
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to call up; cause to appear; summon.
to evoke a spirit from the dead.
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to produce or suggest through artistry and imagination a vivid impression of reality.
a short passage that manages to evoke the smells, colors, sounds, and shapes of that metropolis.
verb
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to call or summon up (a memory, feeling, etc), esp from the past
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to call forth or provoke; produce; elicit
his words evoked an angry reply
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to cause (spirits) to appear; conjure up
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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evokesimple
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evokessimple
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have evokedperfect
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has evokedperfect
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am evokingprogressive
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are evokingprogressive
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is evokingprogressive
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have been evokingperfect progressive
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has been evokingperfect progressive
Past
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evokedsimple
-
had evokedperfect
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was evokingprogressive
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were evokingprogressive
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had been evokingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of evoke
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin ēvocāre, from ē- e- 1 + vocāre “to call” (akin to vōx voice )
Explanation
The verb evoke most commonly means to bring a feeling, memory, or picture into the mind. When you visit your old elementary school, the smells, sounds, and colors there can evoke memories from the past. Similarly, a certain reaction can be evoked by words or actions, as in "His comments evoked anger in the community." A near synonym is elicit, as in "No matter how many different ways the detective questioned the suspect, he could not elicit any response. Evoke was borrowed from Latin evocare, from the prefix e- "out," plus vocare "to call."
Vocabulary lists containing evoke
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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:
Since settling into the home, Biles has offered several glimpses inside the lavish property—including a peek at their luxurious bedroom, which was designed to evoke the feeling of a five-star hotel.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Costume designer Colleen Atwood devised the ensemble, while Ed Cubberly created the famous fiberglass muzzle, deliberately leaving it uncoated to evoke the look of dried, taut skin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Berridge says the ritual could produce a "dopamine hit and strong 'wanting', and also evoke faint conditioned 'liking'".
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
They evoke the “envelope body” style of the postwar American automobile, in which every element—headlights, fenders and all—was drawn into a continuous fluid shell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The loss of my job did not evoke in me any hostility toward the system of rules that had barred my first grasp at the material foundations of American life.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
The engineer title evokes a sense of precision, control and certainty of outcomes that marketing for decades has been presumed to lack.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Edman’s effectiveness evokes memories of Maury Wills batting first for successful 1960s Dodgers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
The hostile Vegas spotlight, meanwhile, evokes memories of Benn senior's ferocious 1995 battle with Gerald McClellan.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
What they’re seeing is pretty grim—a onetime superpower that no longer evokes much respect or fear.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2026
Under the smoke, that scent—fresh, lemony, aromatic— evokes a memory of sitting on the train next to him, just like I am now7, only we’re going the other way and someone is laughing really loudly.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
The government also evoked for the first time Wednesday the potential of a full privatisation of TAP, in exchange for a stake in Lufthansa.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
That response evoked for me Gertrude’s remark in “Hamlet” that “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” but so be it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Ciganda's celebration evoked memories of the nerve-shredding finale at Finca Cortesin in 2023, when her putt allowed Europe to retain the trophy with a 14-14 tie.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Sam Sacks writes that Mr. Lee’s novel has “wonderfully evoked the unmatched urgency of this period of childhood” when every challenge “feels like a matter of life and death.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Instead, her smile was apologetic and teary—it evoked compassion rather than fear.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Yet this true story of peril and peregrination is a treat for the mature reader, too, not least because Shulevitz had a gift for evoking how it feels to be small.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
“Horror films are about evoking an emotional response and we’re hoping the exhibition will do the same,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Vance took a subtly centrist tone in his speech, evoking his blue-collar upbringing while avoiding much of the harsh rhetoric that has made Trump so divisive.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
With its surging choruses and humorous arias and recitatives, to say nothing of its jazzy harmonies and dance rhythms, it possesses an irresistible satiric edge while still evoking American certitude amid Cold War challenges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Their faces possessed the power of evoking in me a million memories that I longed to forget, and instead of my leaving drawing me to them in communion, it had flung me forever beyond them.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
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