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.
The unwelcome racial overtones of the Black teen’s death while accompanied mostly by White friends hearkened back to Mississippi’s painful past and struck a nerve that garnered national interest in the case. Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026 Federal immigration detention in local facilities hearkens back to earlier eras of expanding American incarceration. Ella Siegrist, The Conversation, 28 Aug. 2026 Seeing the Braves compete in this series with the Dodgers, from the walk-off win to the ace performances to the timely snags to Truist Park’s eruptions, hearkened back memories of October 2021. Gabriel Burns, AJC.com, 28 Aug. 2026 The way this movie ends hearkens back to the end of the Dark Knight trilogy, in which Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne and Michael Caine’s Alfred Pennyworth nod at one another in unspoken agreement. Ken Makin, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Aug. 2026 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

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Cite this Entry

“Hearken back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hearken%20back. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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