Meaning & use
conjure
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To make something seem to appear from nothing, as a magician does, or to produce something quickly from very little.
Grammar: Takes an object, often with up or out of: she conjured a meal from leftovers.
Patterns
- conjure something up
- conjure something out of something
- conjure something from something
The magician conjured a rabbit from his hat.
Somehow she conjured a delicious dinner from a nearly empty fridge.
The designer conjured a whole village out of cardboard.
verbtransitive
To cause a picture, memory or feeling to form in the mind.
Grammar: Usually conjure up plus an object: the smell conjures up memories.
Patterns
- conjure up something
- conjure up an image of something
The word 'summer' conjures up pictures of the beach.
His story conjured vivid images of the old town.
The smell of bread conjured memories of my grandmother's kitchen.
verbtransitiveliterary
To call up a spirit or supernatural power by saying special words.
Grammar: Takes an object; used in stories and folklore: the witch conjured a spirit.
Patterns
- conjure a spirit
- conjure something up
In the tale, the wizard conjured a spirit from the flames.
She claimed she could conjure the dead.
The old book described how to conjure a storm.
Word forms
| third person singular | conjures |
|---|---|
| past tense | conjured |
| past participle | conjured |
| -ing form | conjuring |
Common combinations
- conjure up an image
- The name conjures up an image of a quiet village.
- conjure up memories
- Old songs conjure up memories of school days.
- conjure a spell
- The witch conjured a spell to protect the house.
- conjure up a vision
- The poem conjures up a vision of snow-covered hills.
- conjure something out of thin air
- He conjured an excuse out of thin air.
- a name to conjure with
- In jazz, Davis is a name to conjure with.
Synonyms and how they differ
- evoke
- Evoke is more formal and usually refers to feelings or memories, whereas conjure up can also describe making things appear.
- summon
- Summon means to call someone or something to come, which fits spirits but not images or meals.
- produce
- Produce is neutral and says nothing about how surprising or quick the result is, but conjure suggests magic or ingenuity.
- call to mind
- Call to mind is a plain way to say the same as conjure up an image, with no hint of magic.
Opposites
Word family
- conjurer noun
- A person who performs magic tricks
- conjuring noun
- The performing of magic tricks
- conjuration noun
- The act of calling up a spirit, an old-fashioned word
Commonly confused: conjure or conjecture? conjure or conjugate?
conjure vs conjecture
Conjecture is a guess based on incomplete information, and it has no link to magic or imagery.
conjure vs conjugate
Conjugate means to give the forms of a verb, and it is not related to conjure.
Practice
The smell of pine needles always ____ up memories of our winter holidays.
Choose one answer.
Conjure up is the phrase meaning to bring something to mind. Conjecture is a different word and contains and concludes do not combine with up in this sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “conjure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.