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
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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:
"The man's crossed legs might evoke indifference, the phone a culture of emptiness, the parasol a comfort people cling to," it said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
The first sheet becomes the main course: four crisp, savory egg tarts with pancetta, pecorino and enough black pepper to evoke cacio e pepe.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
Colored-pencil illustrations evoke a faded softness, while comic-style panels zoom in, frame by frame, as different actions unfold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
These sounds evoke a special kind of nostalgia for me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Citra wondered what sort of response that might evoke from Curie.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
The title of “Eternal Dreamer,” a moody, drone-based offering, evokes that of “Dream Weaver,” a 1966 album by his landmark quartet with pianist Keith Jarrett, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jack DeJohnette.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Mr. Kaldellis evokes the drama and uncertainty of the siege.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
If his first name inevitably evokes Arthurian legend, Fery’s march through the draw gave Britain reason to believe again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Ojomu noted that Swift might go for "her fairytale moment" with something that "evokes the look of a princess ball gown" for her main dress.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
The sewing kit wrapped in cheesecloth evokes the Byrnes’ grim home.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
We’re looking back at the headbands, earrings, shoes, sunglasses and bags that evoked L.A. most — captured backstage by Image contributing photographer Tyler Matthew Oyer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
A group of people were gathered around a large dining table beneath a massive chandelier of antler, a tableau that evoked some kind of Viking summit.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
It evoked kiwis and guavas like Twizzlers do strawberries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
In its ruling, the ASA said the woman was wearing "fashionable clothing and accessories standing in front of a scooter next to a body of water, which the ASA considered evoked an aspirational holiday lifestyle".
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
She had evoked the town idealized by nostalgia with such strong tenacity that Gaston understood that she would not get married unless he took her to live in Macondo.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
That drew excitement from industry insiders, with some evoking a 2025 release from China's DeepSeek that shook assumptions of US dominance in AI.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
The novel unfolds like an oral storytelling tradition, driven by a voice that Sarris painstakingly crafted, evoking his conversation with McKay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Like Bierstadt, Church was not just stoking patriotic fervor, but also evoking divine providence as favoring the North’s cause.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
Emi Martinez needed his right ring finger taped and treated in the warm-up - evoking memories of Nigel Spink replacing Jimmy Rimmer after just nine minutes in the '82 final.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
Claude Debussy was so intrigued by the Javanese dancers and musicians at the 1899 World’s Fair in Paris that he developed techniques for evoking the exotic sounds of the gamelan on a Western piano.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
