hearken
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has hearkenedperfect 3rd person singular
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have hearkenedperfect
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is hearkeningprogressive 3rd person singular
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am hearkeningprogressive 1st person singular
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are hearkeningprogressive
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have been hearkeningperfect progressive
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has been hearkeningperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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hearkeningparticiple
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hearkenssingular 3rd person
Past
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had hearkenedperfect
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had been hearkeningperfect progressive
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were hearkeningprogressive plural
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hearkenedparticiple
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was hearkeningprogressive singular
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hearkenedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of hearken
1150–1200; Middle English hercnen, Old English he ( o ) rcnian, suffixed form of assumed *heorcian; see hark, -en 1
Explanation
Hearken is an old fashioned form of the word hark, meaning "to listen" (see hark). In the Bible, prophets and saints are always telling people to hearken to their words. While hark is still used today, hearken is pretty much obsolete — unless perhaps you happen to be an old school preacher. Hearken, like hark, can also mean to look back to something in the past, though there is often a critical sense to the word. To hearken back to an old memory or event is usually to do it in a way that may be annoying to other people or perhaps even damaging or self-defeating to the one doing the hearkening. Frequently spelled harken in the US.
Vocabulary lists containing hearken
"The Tell-Tale Heart," Vocabulary from the short story
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"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards
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"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte, Chapters 1–5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For Jane Williams, executive director of the nonprofit California Communities Against Toxics, the copious amounts of ash and rubble hearken back to the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2025
It sounded strange, like a song out of time — Melanie said she intended it to hearken to the 1930s — sung with what could now be called a warbling “indie girl voice.”
From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2024
Elsewhere, the more melancholic numbers hearken back to rainy-day power pop of the ’90s, occasionally erupting in star-reaching guitar leads that would make My Morning Jacket jealous.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 6, 2021
I'd thought that the sudden Scorsese renaissance was a case of the former: his movies are well-shot, well-acted, well-directed, and hearken back to beloved filmmaking tropes of the New Hollywood era.
From Salon • Mar. 13, 2021
“Octavian,” said he, “have any voices presented themselves to you — speaking in remote quarters — which you might not, in other seasons, hearken to?”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
