as in spell
a spoken word or set of words believed to have magic power
a Siberian shaman muttering mysterious invocations to ward off evil
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Recent Examples of invocation
And nothing — no military coalition, no legal invocation, no emergency session of the UN Security Council — has been able to stop it.
—
Wael Mahdi, semafor.com, 13 Apr. 2026
Such rhetoric echoes in official statements as well — in prayers for destruction, in invocations of divine sanction for war and in casual references to catastrophic violence.
—Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026
Some of these invocations align with Hegseth’s recurring references to the Crusades in the Middle Ages – a centuries-long holy war between Christians and Muslims.
—Samuel Perry, The Conversation, 6 Apr. 2026
Despite the invocation of the term 60 years ago, stagflation’s heyday was in the ’70s, when economic growth cooled, wages stagnated, and prices were rising.
—Jill Schlesinger, Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for invocation
Wael Mahdi, semafor.com, 13 Apr. 2026
Such rhetoric echoes in official statements as well — in prayers for destruction, in invocations of divine sanction for war and in casual references to catastrophic violence.
—Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026
Some of these invocations align with Hegseth’s recurring references to the Crusades in the Middle Ages – a centuries-long holy war between Christians and Muslims.
—Samuel Perry, The Conversation, 6 Apr. 2026
Despite the invocation of the term 60 years ago, stagflation’s heyday was in the ’70s, when economic growth cooled, wages stagnated, and prices were rising.
—Jill Schlesinger, Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for invocation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for invocation
Noun
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Patrick is willing to do anything to help his wife, but becomes distrustful of the retreat’s enigmatic leader (Weaver) even as Abigail falls under her spell.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
8 May 2026
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Dry spells drive animals out of their usual habitats in search of food and water.—
Isabel Debre,
Los Angeles Times,
6 May 2026
Noun
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As prospective farmers struggled to clear forests for rice fields in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Malaya, their efforts might have been accompanied by mystical incantations like this invocation against Iblis, the Devil in Islamic tradition.—
H.M.A. Leow,
JSTOR Daily,
24 Apr. 2026
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In that loud and sultry enclosure, the aspirants lined up and repeated the same information, over and over, like an incantation to open a magic door.—
Taran Khan,
The Dial,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Baseball has always been a sport that believes in the occult — in juju and curses and superstitions.—
Tim Rohan,
NBC news,
3 May 2026
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Mike Russo writes that, in breaking their curse, the Wild may have their best shot at a title in franchise history.—
James Mirtle,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Invocation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/invocation. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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