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evoke or invoke?
Don’t feel bad if you have difficulty remembering the difference between evoke and invoke, as the words are quite similar in many ways and have considerable overlap in meaning. However, the words do differ, and you would not want to substitute one for the other. Invoke is used of putting into effect or calling upon such things as laws, authority, or privilege (“the principal invoked a rule forbidding students from asking questions”). Evoke is primarily used in the sense “to call forth or up” and is often found in connection with such things as memories, emotions, or sympathy.
Examples of evoke in a Sentence
Sherri Gordon, Health, 12 Dec. 2025
Priced at $625, the shoes featured high-shine two-tone metal hardware that wraps the toe and threads through the silhouette, evoking the look of an ear piercing — as well as a toe ring.
—Kelsey Stewart, Footwear News, 12 Dec. 2025
At the heart is a mix of mandarin rind, cedarwood, and lavender that evokes Aesop’s unmistakable essence of clean, herbal, and grounding.
—Lily Wohlner, Allure, 12 Dec. 2025
Rutte, delivering a keynote address at the Bavarian State Representation, hosted by the Munich Security Conference in Germany, evoked the night the Berlin Wall fell as a reminder of the power of unity.
—Ashley Carnahan, FOXNews.com, 11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for evoke
Cite this Entry
“Evoke.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evoke. Accessed 14 Dec. 2025.
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