hanker

[hang-ker]

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verb (used without object)

to have a restless or incessant longing (often followed by after, for, or an infinitive).

Origin of hanker

1595–1605; < early Dutch dialect hankeren (cognate with Dutch hunkeren), frequentative of hangen to hang

Related formshan·ker·er, noun

Synonyms for hanker

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See yearn.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for hanker

yearn, crave, itch, yen, wish, covet, hunger, pine, lust, long, want, sigh, ache, thirst

Examples from the Web for hanker

Historical Examples of hanker

There's days when I feel uneasy every minute and hanker for a deck underneath me.
Cy Whittaker's Place
Joseph C. Lincoln
I was too busy to hanker for a stump speech, so I cut across his bows.
The Depot Master
Joseph C. Lincoln
Here, by Godfreys, they don't give us no time to hanker for nothin'.
Galusha the Magnificent
Joseph C. Lincoln
If you hanker to go to Boston, go you shall, and no thanks to me.
Nobody
Louis Joseph Vance
Trivial might some say who hanker after giantesque composition.
Adventures in the Arts
Marsden Hartley

British Dictionary definitions for hanker

hanker

verb

(foll by for, after, or an infinitive) to have a yearning (for something or to do something)

Derived Formshankering, noun

Word Origin for hanker

C17: probably from Dutch dialect hankeren

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hanker

c.1600, of unknown origin, probably from Flemish hankeren, related to Dutch hunkeren "to hanker," of unknown origin; perhaps an intensive of Middle Dutch hangen "to hang" (see hang (v.)). If so, the notion is of "lingering about" with longing or craving. Related: Hankered; hankering.