evoke
Americanverb (used with object)
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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
- evocable adjective
- evoker noun
- unevoked adjective
Etymology
Origin of evoke
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin ēvocāre, from ē- e- 1 + vocāre “to call” (akin to vōx voice )
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.
It evokes the feel of a night raid with RAF Bomber Command better than the Len Deighton novel that inspired it.
The chord progression and clattery percussion on “Dead Women” evoke “Lay Lady Lay,” while Mitski’s song imagines someone pawing through her things after death, trying to uncover her secrets.
“Because of the distance, the images actually evoked a beautiful nostalgia in me.”
From Los Angeles Times
Each evokes the tenderhearted nostalgia held by millions who have never known a version of modern life without Jackson’s presence.
From Salon
Many selected books evoke the greatest anxieties of our time, from government-sanctioned historical revisionism to the ongoing proliferation of AI.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
