hanker
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
Synonym Usage
See yearn.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have hankeredperfect
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has hankeredperfect 3rd person singular
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have been hankeringperfect progressive
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am hankeringprogressive 1st person singular
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has been hankeringperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is hankeringprogressive 3rd person singular
-
are hankeringprogressive
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hankeringparticiple
-
hankerssingular 3rd person
Past
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had hankeredperfect
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had been hankeringperfect progressive
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was hankeringprogressive singular
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were hankeringprogressive plural
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hankeredparticiple
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hankeredsimple
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.
Artistically flinging yard goods around bathing-suited models, Gable achieved outstanding success by making Model Charlotte Hanker appear to be having just as much fun as he was.
From Time Magazine Archive
Hanker not too much after worldly prosperity—that corpulent cigar; if you became a millionaire you would probably go swimming around for more like a diseased goldfish.
From Courage by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew)
The "Hanker" aids here, with a second wheel-barrow.
From Peat and its Uses as Fertilizer and Fuel by Johnson, Samuel W. (Samuel William)
Polly Hanker they called her, along of her being Polly Hanks, and likewise wantin' more than other folks had to get along with.
From The Path of the King by Buchan, John
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.
