evoke

[ ih-vohk ]

/ ɪˈvoʊk /

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See synonyms for: evoke / evoked / evokes / evoking on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), e·voked, e·vok·ing.

to call up or produce (memories, feelings, etc.): to evoke a memory.

to elicit or draw forth: His comment evoked protests from the shocked listeners.

to call up; cause to appear; summon: to evoke a spirit from the dead.

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.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of evoke

1615–25; <Latin ēvocāre, equivalent to ē-e-¹ + vocāre to call (akin to vōxvoice)

OTHER WORDS FROM evoke

e·vok·er, nounun·e·voked, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use evoke in a sentence

It’s hard to tell what’s going on fully, and there’s like the sense of mystery here which is being evoked.
AI Reads Human Emotions. Should it?|Tate Ryan-Mosley|October 14, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Its command of artificial intelligence, packaged into a software offering whose name evoked its founding family, would cure cancer.
IBM finally gets rid of some business to focus on the one that matters|Adam Lashinsky|October 9, 2020|Fortune
You see something that evokes strong emotions, and each time you see it, that emotion comes up.
How border walls trick the human brain and psyche|Jessica Wapner|October 2, 2020|Popular-Science
Furthermore, if asked to recall the emotional tone of a past event, you are more likely evoke a field memory, while if asked to recall facts of an event, you are more likely to call forth an observer memory.
You can’t completely trust your memories|David Linden|September 30, 2020|Popular-Science

There’s no other season that evokes the senses quite like fall.
7 Candles That Smell Exactly Like Fall|Jasmine Grant|September 28, 2020|Essence.com
She was sure that Dora was not the only evoker of the unbounded satisfaction in Bryce Denning's face and manner.
The Man Between|Amelia E. Barr
Sudermann is still Klingsor, the evoker of artificial figures, not the poet who creates living men and women.
Ivory Apes and Peacocks|James Huneker
The voice ceased and the evoker offered a prayer of adoration.
Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland, First Series|Lady Gregory
I did not, and the seeress did not, and the evoker of spirits did not and could not.
Ideas of Good and Evil|William Butler Yeats
The evoker of spirits said they must be making some kind of masonic house.
Ideas of Good and Evil|William Butler Yeats

British Dictionary definitions for evoke

evoke

/ (ɪˈvəʊk) /

verb (tr)

to call or summon up (a memory, feeling, etc), esp from the past

to call forth or provoke; produce; elicithis words evoked an angry reply

to cause (spirits) to appear; conjure up

Derived forms of evoke

evocable (ˈɛvəkəbəl), adjectiveevoker, noun

Word Origin for evoke

C17: from Latin ēvocāre to call forth, from vocāre to call

undefined evoke

See evince, invoke

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

evoke

Origin of evoke

OTHER WORDS FROM evoke

Words related to evoke

How to use evoke in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for evoke

Derived forms of evoke

Word Origin for evoke

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