conjure
Americanverb (used with object)
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conjures,
present (3rd person singular)
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conjured,
past participle, past
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conjuring
present participle
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to affect or influence by or as if by invocation or spell.
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to effect, produce, bring, etc., by or as by magic.
to conjure a miracle.
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to call upon or command (a devil or spirit) by invocation or spell.
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to call or bring into existence by or as if by magic (usually followed byup ).
She seemed to have conjured up the person she was talking about.
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to bring to mind; recall (usually followed byup ).
to conjure up the past.
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to appeal to solemnly or earnestly.
I conjure you to hear my plea.
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Obsolete. to charge solemnly.
verb (used without object)
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conjures,
present (3rd person singular)
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conjured,
past participle, past
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conjuring
present participle
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to call upon or command a devil or spirit by invocation or spell.
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to practice magic.
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to practice legerdemain.
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Obsolete. to conspire.
noun
verb
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(intr) to practise conjuring or be a conjuror
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(intr) to call upon supposed supernatural forces by spells and incantations
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(tr) to appeal earnestly or strongly to
I conjure you to help me
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a person thought to have great power or influence
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any name that excites the imagination
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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conjuresimple
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conjuressimple
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have conjuredperfect
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has conjuredperfect
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am conjuringprogressive
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are conjuringprogressive
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is conjuringprogressive
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have been conjuringperfect progressive
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has been conjuringperfect progressive
Past
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conjuredsimple
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had conjuredperfect
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was conjuringprogressive
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were conjuringprogressive
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had been conjuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of conjure
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English conj(o)uren, cunjouren, from Anglo-French, Old French conjurer, from Latin conjūrāre “to join in taking an oath, form an alliance, join a plot or conspiracy,” equivalent to con- prefix meaning “with, together” + jūrāre “to take an oath, swear,” derivative of jūr- inflectional stem of jūs “law”; cf. con-, jury 1, justice
Explanation
If your mom can magically conjure up the most delicious meals from the most random ingredients in the kitchen, she might just be the best cook in the neighborhood. Sometimes the mere sight or smell of something can conjure or stir up long lost memories, magically transporting you back to another place and time. But in the early 13th century, conjure was a bit more sinister — it meant using a spell to capture a demon to do one's bidding. In our modern day, conjure still carries the meaning of summoning a spirit, but it more regularly means to summon an idea or bring something into existence.
Vocabulary lists containing conjure
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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:
He might conjure up a protective bubble, let’s say, to shield a town from hostile aliens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The word superstore might conjure up a shop at least the size of Walmart, if not Walmart Supercenter.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
A woman who limits her exercise to Pilates will still have to subsist on very little food to get the delicate, bone-thin look these men conjure with the “Pilates girl” image.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
"I had hoped that Nolan's affinity with these Homeric themes might push him to new creative heights, and enable him to conjure more believable characters," she wrote.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“Time to conjure the bottle tree. The last thing. The sky-ferries will take us back to the pier soon, but I want to fortify it for you.”
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
The more Mitchell conjures joy and fear from thin air with the snap of his fingers, the more frustrating it becomes that audiences seldom get to experience summer fun at this caliber anymore.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
For millions of Disney fans, that phrase instantly conjures up memories of one of the biggest musical franchises of the 2000s.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The phrase "American dream" was coined in the 1930s and often conjures up images of suburban families, solid jobs and beach vacations.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
The West Hollywood clam shack conjures Rhode Island on the West Coast, be it with clams of all kinds, lobster cooked just right or oysters treated with reverence.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
To many people the very word conjures up memories of choking on chalk dust and cowering in fear of a thwack on the knuckles from a spinster schoolteacher.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
The memory, and the blissful obliviousness it conjured, became the image at the center of the title track.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
It just takes you to a new place and it’s so much more interesting than anything I would have conjured up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Murray will be remembered for his razor-sharp volleying skills and the preposterous angles he conjured at the net.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
The rubber met the road at the Line, the horizontal mirrored skyscraper city the prince conjured for Neom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
For an instant she thought that Hannah actually had conjured up a vision.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
And conjuring up concerns about how the Olympics will operate when L.A. is supposed to open its arms to the world two years from now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
In a World Cup where the boffins with their big brainy heads and their super computers are working overtime on who might play who in the last 32, there are other calculations worth conjuring with.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
Teddy Thompson possesses one of those voices, a golden, vivid instrument capable of conjuring joy — though not in excess; he’s English — and caverns of heartache.
From Salon ● May 15, 2026
Sadly, his background vocal is mixed low and seems like an afterthought, but it’s an affecting song nonetheless, conjuring images of truck stops and roadside juke joints.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
He did not want to be recognized by a medium who could claim later that Huxley believed in conjuring up the dead.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
