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 )
Explanation
The verb evoke most commonly means to bring a feeling, memory, or picture into the mind. When you visit your old elementary school, the smells, sounds, and colors there can evoke memories from the past. Similarly, a certain reaction can be evoked by words or actions, as in "His comments evoked anger in the community." A near synonym is elicit, as in "No matter how many different ways the detective questioned the suspect, he could not elicit any response. Evoke was borrowed from Latin evocare, from the prefix e- "out," plus vocare "to call."
Vocabulary lists containing evoke
Night
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 6
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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.
These days, some distributors will put their titles out on tape if their aesthetic or the time period they evoke feels appropriate for VHS.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026
What Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid is out to evoke is bone-deep submission: the kind of total capitulation and surrender that makes a person unrecognizable even to themselves.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
This unstable, indeterminate flickering sensation is what Mr. Lerner wants to evoke as he maneuvers his stories between the polarities of the real and the imaginary.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
The BBC has obtained footage and interviews from Tehran which evoke a city of strained nerves, of constant waiting for the next blast and relentless fear of the state security apparatus.
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026
Once it had had the power to evoke fear.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
