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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
Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Nov. 2024
The fairy-tale forest evokes a little girl’s interpretation of the world, a garbled dreamscape of prohibitions and pleasures.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
The store evokes a woodsy feel with its classic dark green walls.
—Alysa Guffey, The Indianapolis Star, 21 Nov. 2024
The song evokes the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Band, and the symphonic compositions of Queen or, more recently, the Verve.
—Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for evoke 
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Cite this Entry
“Evoke.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evoke. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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