- Paula’s Christmas photographs evoked both the magic and the crassness of the holiday.
The act of evoking is called evocation (e voh KAY shun).
- A visit to the house in which one grew up often leads to the evocation of old memories.
Something that evokes something else is said to be evocative (i VAHK uh tiv).
- The old novel is highly evocative of its era; reading it makes you feel as though you have
been transported a hundred years into the past.
IMPEDE (im PEED) v to obstruct or interfere with; to delay
- The faster I try to pick up the house, the more the cat impedes me; he sees me scurrying
around and, thinking I want to play, he runs up and winds himself around my ankles. - The fact that the little boy is missing all his front teeth impedes his ability to speak clearly.
Something that impedes is an impediment (im PED uh munt).
- Irene’s inability to learn foreign languages was a definite impediment to her mastery of
French literature.
INVOKE (in VOHK) v to entreat or pray for; to call on as in prayer; to declare to be in effect
- Oops! I just spilled cake mix all over my mother’s new kitchen carpet. I’d better go invoke
her forgiveness. - This drought has lasted for so long that I’m just about ready to invoke the rain gods.
- The legislature passed a law restricting the size of the state’s deficit, but it then neglected to
invoke it when the deficit soared above the limit.
The noun is invocation (in vuh KAY shun).
IRREVOCABLE (i REV uh kuh bul) adj irreversible
To revoke (ri VOHK) is to take back. Something irrevocable cannot be taken back.
- My decision not to wear a Tarzan costume and ride on a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade is irrevocable; there is absolutely nothing you could do or say to make me
change my mind. - After his friend pointed out that the tattoo was spelled incorrectly, Tom realized that his
decision to get a tattoo was irrevocable.
MALAISE (ma LAYZ) n a feeling of depression, uneasiness, or queasiness
- Malaise descended on the calculus class when the teacher announced a quiz.
MALFEASANCE (mal FEE zuns) n an illegal act, especially by a public official
- President Ford officially pardoned former President Nixon before the latter could be
convicted of any malfeasance.