invoked
Americanadjective
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(of a deity, saint, Muse, etc.) petitioned, prayed to, or called upon for help or aid.
On all four sides of the obelisk there are inscriptions associating the invoked deities with the cardinal points of the compass.
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prayed or asked for with earnest desire.
Many drivers who have miraculously escaped from car accidents credit the invoked protection of St. Christopher.
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declared to be in effect.
While overseas he was detained by local police for allegedly misstating his company's registered assets—a rarely invoked charge.
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appealed to or mentioned, as for confirmation or justification.
This logic of caution is most recognizable in the often invoked slogan that “risk management is good business.”
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(of a spirit) called forth or summoned by incantation.
The initiation ritual is a one-to-one encounter with an initiator, who acts as agent for the invoked powers in the spirit world.
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Computers. displayed, opened, or executed as a result of clicking on a link, entering a search term, changing a parameter, etc..
If you click on the Back arrow, the invoked view will replace the current view in the navigation history.
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caused or brought about by a certain thing or in a certain way (often used in combination).
The report ignored the millions of refugees fleeing the recent military-invoked escalation of violence in the region.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of invoked
First recorded in 1795–1805; invoke ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; invoke ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb sense
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.
But the meaning and power of this particular clause has long been debated and seldom invoked.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
In May the Justice Ministry invoked its new anti-extraterritorial-jurisdiction rules for the first time, forbidding Chinese entities from cooperating with the European Commission’s investigation, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, into Chinese security-equipment maker Nuctech.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
New York's state constitution has its own prohibition on double jeopardy, which, if invoked here, could have a knock-on effect on Mangione's upcoming state trial.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
The DOJ invoked the presumption of regularity and argued his arrest was part of an anti-terrorism dragnet, which the judge threw out.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
—William Cowper Innumeracy, Freud, and Pseudoscience Innumeracy and pseudoscience are often associated, in part because of the ease with which mathematical certainty can be invoked to bludgeon the innumerate into a dumb acquiescence.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
