Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🤝 To ask to join 👐 To encourage ⚠️ To cause problems ✉️ An invitation
to invite

to invite

∞ 1.0
To ask someone politely to come or take part in an event
  • verb
  • /ɪnˈvaɪt/
translation icon : invitar a
  • We never limit readers' curiosity; we do invite them to explore everything the library collection offers.
  • invite to participate
  • invite to join
  • invite guests

The girlfriend's mom still invites Arnold over for dinner.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • The entire class of 60 students was invited to respond to a structured questionnaire.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Of 8,394 reported pregnant women, 6,658 were invited to participate in the study.

    Academic text (2015)

  • But the minute you invite them, they will tell you.

    Tim Ferriss

  • How can I invite anybody in here?

    Wuthering Heights (1970)

  • And then David invited Simon to join.

  • I'll give my husband a ring and invite him along, too.

    Werewolf Cabal (2022)

  • Following these initial conversations, the teacher invited them to listen to the poet reading his poem.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Next, the research team contacted potential interviewees and invited them to participate in the research study.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Then Cory A. Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, invited Despommier to present his ideas.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Would you like to invite your friends to the party this weekend?

Synonyms

to ask out
vsto invite
363 2.3

To invite someone to go on a date because you like them

is a general friendly request to join events or visits, not romantic-only
to bid
vsto invite
  • Archaic
28 3.5

To tell someone politely or formally to do something

is informal and polite, focused on inviting people rather than commanding them
to ask in
vsto invite
12 1.0

Invite someone to come into a room or house

is a more general friendly request to join events, not just entry
to invite out
vsto invite
  • Informal
12 3.1

To ask someone to go with you to a social event like dinner, often as a date

is a friendly polite request to join events or visits, not date-only
to ask over
vsto invite
  • US
9 3.1

Invite someone to your home for dinner or drinks

is a general friendly request to join events or visits beyond home only
to ask round
vsto invite
  • UK
4.1

To invite people to your home for a visit or meal

is broader, covering any friendly request to join activities or places

Antonyms

to disinvite
5 6.5

To tell someone they cannot come to an event they were asked to attend

Phrasal Verbs

to invite out
  • Informal
12 3.1

To ask someone to go with you to a social event like dinner, often as a date

to invite to dinner
3 1.2

Ask someone to join you for an evening meal

How Forceful

to demand
943 2.7
to press
285 3.9
to urge
591 3.2
to invite
∞ 1.0
to request
∞ 1.0
to ask
∞ 1.0
to suggest
∞ 1.6

Surface Forms

invite infinitive
invited past
invited past participle
inviting present participle
invites third person singular

Etymology

Invite comes from the Latin word invitare, which meant 'to call in' or 'to entertain'. So to invite someone is to ask them to come or join, like a friendly 'call' to be part of something.