invoke
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to call for with earnest desire; make supplication or pray for.
to invoke God's mercy.
-
to call on (a deity, Muse, etc.), as in prayer or supplication.
-
to declare to be binding or in effect.
to invoke the law;
to invoke a veto.
-
to appeal to, as for confirmation.
-
to petition or call on for help or aid.
-
to call forth or upon (a spirit) by incantation.
-
Computers. to cause to be displayed, opened, or executed by clicking on a link, entering a search term, changing a parameter, etc..
Press and hold the R key to temporarily invoke the Rotate View tool, then drag your document to rotate.
-
to cause, call forth, or bring about.
verb
-
to call upon (an agent, esp God or another deity) for help, inspiration, etc
-
to put (a law, penalty, etc) into use
the union invoked the dispute procedure
-
to appeal to (an outside agent or authority) for confirmation, corroboration, etc
-
to implore or beg (help, etc)
-
to summon (a spirit, demon, etc); conjure up
Usage
What does invoke mean? Invoke means to intensely call for something or call on someone, especially as in a prayer to a god or higher power, as in The holy woman invoked God’s mercy in her prayers. Invoke can also mean to call for help from someone (again, usually a god), as in The shamans invoked the gods to save them from the invading army. Invoke may also refer to stating that something is in effect, like a law or rule, as in The police invoked the new littering law when they fined Demetri for tossing his soda bottle on the ground. And invoke can mean to call or conjure a spirit or demon, as in The warlock invoked a group of infernal imps to do his evil bidding. Example: The ritual is meant to invoke the wrath of the gods and bring misfortune to the people’s enemies.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
invokesimple
-
invokessimple
-
have invokedperfect
-
has invokedperfect
-
am invokingprogressive
-
are invokingprogressive
-
is invokingprogressive
-
have been invokingperfect progressive
-
has been invokingperfect progressive
Past
-
invokedsimple
-
had invokedperfect
-
was invokingprogressive
-
were invokingprogressive
-
had been invokingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of invoke
First recorded in 1480–90; from Latin invocāre, equivalent to in- in- 2 + vocāre “to call,” akin to vōx voice
Explanation
To invoke is to call up something such as a law, a higher power, or even a ghost. In court, you might invoke the Fifth Amendment (the right not to say something that will make you look bad) if you don't want to talk. You can invoke all kinds of people or ideas, alive or dead: "She invokes the spirit of good writing when she proofreads her work." In a time of need, you might invoke a higher power. You could invoke Martin Luther King when talking about equal rights. You might even invoke the spirit of your dead cat at a séance. Just make sure you don't evoke (to bring on a strong emotional reaction) your dead cat; that would just be weird.
Vocabulary lists containing invoke
Latin Love, Vol I: vocare
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Odyssey," Vocabulary from Part 1 of the epic poem
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865)
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
When we tell ourselves stories about warrior elites—and invoke their iconography to inspire and galvanize—we often dismiss and ignore their victims as inconvenient or annoying footnotes.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
It did not explicitly invoke the unitary executive theory, but its fealty to the doctrine was clear.
From Salon ● Jul. 1, 2026
Porter’s death has become a rallying point for Los Angeles activists, who regularly invoke his name at Police Commission meetings and protests.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
The government could invoke emergency mediation powers to halt industrial action and trigger mediation if it is deemed a threat to the national economy.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
He just had to invoke Adidas, the goddess of off-brand shoes.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
The very history he so powerfully invokes to explain the 14th Amendment’s origins often becomes, in his jurisprudence, a reason to limit rather than enlarge its reach.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
The Philippines invokes its geographical proximity to the Spratly Islands as the main basis of its claim for part of the grouping.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
Second, the DOJ invokes the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and its requirement that all states must maintain a computerized, statewide voter registration list.
From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2026
Revised wording no longer explicitly invokes Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows the Security Council to authorize armed force to restore peace.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
Still a third type of answer to Yali invokes the supposed importance of lowland river valleys in dry climates, where highly productive agriculture depended on large-scale irrigation systems that in turn required centralized bureaucracies.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
It’s not the first time Morton has invoked the heart in our conversation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
While France and the U.S. invoked the Enlightenment in their founding principles and constitutions, Germany built its postwar institutions on the memory of the Shoah.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Ryan said he "invoked his imagination" which he had as a child growing up in Wales running around and playing, while acting as the character.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Though planners invoked the nation’s “Judeo-Christian” heritage, most religious leaders at the event came from the evangelical Christian tradition.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
To this day the edict remains, but rarely needs to be invoked, because few are foolish enough to impersonate a scythe.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
You may remember the president invoking it repeatedly in California, after 2018’s deadly Camp Fire and during last year’s Palisades burns.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026
Police Chief Gene Harris, however, kept the shooting video under wraps for nearly 10 months by invoking an exception to state law requiring police shootings be released, citing an investigation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
Logan’s speech Wednesday went a step further by explicitly invoking the potential for rate hikes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
The attorney general faults OpenAI for failing to put in place stricter rules to verify users' ages, invoking legal statutes on deception and negligence.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
Anya wondered if invoking his father’s name was going to cause trouble for Ivan’s family at all.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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.