hark back

verb

harked back; harking back; harks back

intransitive verb

1

: to turn back to an earlier topic or circumstance

2

: to go back to something as an origin or source

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Hark Back Got Its Start in Hunting

Hark, a very old word meaning "to listen," was used as a cry in hunting. The master of the hunt might cry "Hark! Forward!" or "Hark! Back!" The cries became set phrases, both as nouns and verbs. Thus, a "hark back" was a retracing of a route by dogs and hunters, and to "hark back" was to turn back along the path. From its use in hunting, the verb soon acquired its current figurative meanings. The variants hearken and harken (also very old words meaning “to listen”) are also used, with and without back, as synonyms of hark back.

Synonyms

• flash back (to)
• harken back (to)
• hearken back (to)
• mind [chiefly dialect]
• recall
• recollect
• remember
• reminisce (about)
• reproduce
• think (of)

Examples of hark back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Take the thundering title track, which seems to hark back to the furious protest music of their early albums, celebrating the sheer force of collective resistance. —Liam Hess, Vogue, 25 Mar. 2024

The Voice was perpetually harking back to a better (i.e., more radical) era. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024

That term is a loaded one in Hebrew parlance, harking back to the sorting of prisoners at Nazi concentration camps. —Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 11 Nov. 2023

Speaking of which, one of the highlights is a stunning grand entrance hallway that harks back to The OWO’s storied past. —Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 8 Apr. 2024

Pressman, furiously working to keep the lights on, deflected questions about artistic decision-making and financial management that harked back to leadership issues predating the pandemic fallout. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2024

But Ibiza also has a quiet side, with pristine secluded beaches, a pastoral countryside, and small inland villages with a bohemian soul that harks back to the island’s hippie past. —Siobhan Reid, Vogue, 27 Mar. 2024

It was replaced with the current two-story, four-bedroom hacienda-style main residence, which harks back to the property’s 1910 roots as a ranch and citrus orchard. —Degen Pener, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Mar. 2024

Built in 1911 by architects Walter Emory and Marshall Webb in a half-timbered style that harks back to Tudor England, the home has a basalt rock foundation. —Kristina Linnea Garcia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

hark back

verb

: to recall or cause to recall something earlier

hark back to the good old days