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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.
Synonyms
Examples of invoke in a Sentence
Thomas Nagel, New Republic, 14 Jan. 2002
There are some people who commit murder as a way of invoking the death penalty. Capital punishment can sometimes, then, be equivalent to suicide.
—George Freeman Solomon, People, 17 Jan. 1977
We began poring over the typewritten recipes at the dining room table, where I foolishly invoked the name of Julia Child …
—Gael Greene, New York, 13 Sept. 1971
He invoked the memory of his predecessor.
She invoked history to prove her point.
He invoked his Fifth Amendment privileges.
The suspect invoked his right to an attorney.
invoke the authority of the court
William Gavin, Quartz, 15 Nov. 2024
With Vietnamese Americans, Harris invoked the stories of many in the community who fled to the U.S. as South Vietnam fell to the Viet Cong in 1975.
—Yash Roy, The Hill, 4 Nov. 2024
When asked about the success, Dillingham invoked the ghost of Bruce Snyder, former Sun Devils head coach and philosopher.
—Matthew Self, The Arizona Republic, 4 Nov. 2024
It was last invoked in 1992 during riots in Los Angeles after police officers were acquitted for the beating of Rodney King.
—Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 2 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for invoke 
Articles Related to invoke
Dictionary Entries Near invoke
Cite this Entry
“Invoke.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoke. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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invoke
transitive verb
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