hanker
Americanverb (used without object)
-
hankers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hankered,
past participle, past
-
hankering
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See yearn.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hankersimple
-
hankerssimple
-
have hankeredperfect
-
has hankeredperfect
-
am hankeringprogressive
-
are hankeringprogressive
-
is hankeringprogressive
-
have been hankeringperfect progressive
-
has been hankeringperfect progressive
Past
-
hankeredsimple
-
had hankeredperfect
-
was hankeringprogressive
-
were hankeringprogressive
-
had been hankeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hanker
First recorded in 1595–1605; from early Dutch dialect hankeren (cognate with Dutch hunkeren ), frequentative of hangen “to hang”; see hang
Explanation
To hanker for something is to crave it, or really want it. On a hot, sunny afternoon, you might hanker for a tall glass of sweet iced tea. People often hanker for relatively meaningless things, like chocolate cake or a nap or a new pair of shoes, but you can also hanker after more important things, like a long-lost friend or a new job. If you long for it, you hanker for it. The word's origin is a little fuzzy, but one good guess traces it to the Middle Dutch hangen, "to hang," from the idea of "hanging around" or "lingering."
Vocabulary lists containing hanker
Matilda
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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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.
See Examples For:
It’s enough to make a reader hanker for a volume devoted to the director’s long working relationship with Head or for a filmography refracted through the actresses he obsessed over and glorified.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
Those communities also hanker for weather radar to track incoming squalls, Way says.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 8, 2023
When bat droppings are scarce, female Neotrogla hanker for sperm, which is encased in nutritious capsules called spermatophores.
From New York Times ● Jan. 10, 2023
“I kind of do still hanker for that.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2022
There is no question about our good intentions in this matter: we all hanker, collectively, to become applied scientists as soon as we can, overnight if possible.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Restaurants can run with seating limitations, but few are — nobody hankers for sit-down, Iowa Chops until they know the real score.
From Washington Post ● May 28, 2020
For the designer Sandy Liang, who recently sponsored a pop-up shop on her island, it is a consumer who hankers for playfulness in a fashion world that often takes itself too seriously.
From New York Times ● May 6, 2020
But whereas Johnson craves fame, Stewart hankers for something more like the abyss.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 19, 2019
And if Meghan hankers for a stretch of sand to remind her of home, then we recommend she heads to West Wittering with its colourful beach huts.
From BBC ● May 19, 2018
If a man hankers for visions, he should do it in public, where it does us some good. second priest: It doesn’t look right, beloved friend, wandering around in the middle of the night.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
He owns four other Fiesta models, including the sporty XR2 he hankered for since childhood that he bought in 2007 for £2,000, which is likely to be worth significantly more now.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2023
Back then, fear of centralism sprang from populists such as William Jennings Bryan, who hankered for easier credit for farmers.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 21, 2022
“People have always hankered after a bit of peace and quiet.”
From The Guardian ● Apr. 27, 2019
Some hankered for u-turns in policies; some wanted an entirely new approach to governing.
From Reuters ● Jan. 20, 2017
But what door, what lock, could keep out of a house what someone inside hankered for?
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
It’s the absolute goal of every resort operator to satisfy that hankering.
From Slate ● Apr. 11, 2026
With no desire to restore cars and a hankering to entertain, he started researching restaurants, whiskey bars and speakeasies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
Studies also indicate that for some people, cravings for highly palatable foods go well beyond just a normal hankering for a snack and are, in fact, signs of addictive behavior.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2025
He had always had a hankering after driving for Ferrari and he has a close relationship with their team boss Frederic Vasseur, which dates back 20 years to their time in the junior categories together.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2025
Though he felt he was cut off from them forever, he had a strange hankering for their presence.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
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.
