hearken back

verb

variants or harken back
hearkened back or harkened back; hearkening back or harkening back; hearkens back or harkens back

intransitive verb

: to go back to or recall to mind something in the past : hark back
usually used with to
This place caters to Americans and hearkens back to days when the town attracted famous celebrities.Barbara Zaragoza
Greenberg worked very closely with the laboratory which harkened back to his earliest days in the film business …Ron Magid

Examples of hearken back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Custer’s Last Stand reenactments hearken back to Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows, popular from the 1870s to the 1920s. Elizabeth Hernandez, The Denver Post, 17 Nov. 2024 But what was overlooked during that hype was George’s strong singing, which hearkened back to the reggae and American R&B singers that were influential to him. David Chiu, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024 The ad-free, clean interface hearkens back to the elder engine's early days. Theara Coleman, theweek, 5 Nov. 2024 Hathaway rocked a pair of heeled black over-the-knee boots that hearkened back to her covetable pair from The Devil Wears Prada, topping them with a floor-length military coat during an outing in New York City. Jamie Allison Sanders, People.com, 17 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hearken back 

Word History

First Known Use

1900, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hearken back was in 1900

Dictionary Entries Near hearken back

Cite this Entry

“Hearken back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hearken%20back. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!