hearken

verb

heark·​en ˈhär-kən 

variants or harken

hearkened or harkened; hearkening ˈhär-kə-niŋ 

ˈhärk-niŋ

or harkening

intransitive verb

1

: listen

hearkened without much mental comment

—Theodore Dreiser

2

: to give respectful attention

the humble folk who hearkened to these evangelists

—G. M. Stephenson

3

: to bring to mind something in the past : hearken back

Portrayals of dinosaurs with lizard-like tongues hearken to early interpretations of the beasts as oversized lizards.

—Mindy Weisberger

transitive verb

archaic : to give heed to : hear

Synonyms

• attend
• hark
• harken
• hear
• heed
• listen
• mind

Examples of hearken in a Sentence

hearken! I hear the distant beat of the hooves of many horses

Recent Examples on the Web

And inside, the store’s design hearkens to some of the traditional images of Hong Kong; the metal grille that covers the columns is a reference to the Chinese city’s ubiquitous bamboo scaffolding. —Nicholas Gordon, Fortune Asia, 1 Dec. 2024

When asked why that is, Danson hearkens it back to his days on Cheers. —Lauren Huff, EW.com, 21 Nov. 2024

His new album, for which this EP is the lead-in, would hearken to the past. —Molly Lambert, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2024

The breezy, two-minute songs on Mixtape Pluto are a sharp contrast not only from the narcotic, hypnotic vibe-outs of his studio albums, but even the classic mixtapes this hearkens to. —Christopher R. Weingarten, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English herknen, from Old English heorcnian; akin to Old High German hōrechen to listen, Old English hīeran to hear

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Phrases Containing hearken

• hearken back

Kids Definition

hearken

verb

hear·​ken

ˈhär-kən

hearkened; hearkening

ˈhärk-(ə-)niŋ

: listen sense 1, attend