hark back
verb
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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.
Examples of hark back in a Sentence
Natasha Frost, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2025
Its proponents reject the full spectrum of European and American liberal thought, from left to right, and hark back to a West defined by their reading of Christianity and traditional values.
—Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2025
The designer has enthused about the company’s archives of countless fabrics and textiles that hark back to 1910 — with precise indications on how to reproduce them — and designs from 1968.
—Luisa Zargani, WWD, 18 Mar. 2025
Sparse piano chords, a slow-blues structure, hovering orchestral arrangements and the cry within Ledisi’s voice all hark back to Nina Simone.
—Jon Pareles, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hark back
Cite this Entry
“Hark back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hark%20back. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.
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