hankering

[hang-ker-ing]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hankering ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a longing; craving.

Origin of hankering

First recorded in 1655–65; hanker + -ing¹

Related formshan·ker·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms for hankering

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hankering ON THESAURUS.COM

desire, need, yearning, hunger, yen, thirst.

hanker

[hang-ker]

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

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hanker ON THESAURUS.COM

See yearn.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hankering

yearning, craving, pining, longing, urge, itch, hunger, wish, yen, thirst, want, weakness, ache, druthers, munchies

Examples from the Web for hankering

Contemporary Examples of hankering

Some would no doubt keep dancing as they waited for the L train, hankering for the next episode of Morning Gloryville.
The Drug-Free Breakfast Rave Is New York’s Latest Exercise Trend
Jessica Burdon
May 8, 2014
Indeed, this is not the kind of shop that would appeal to the 50-something woman with a hankering for flash and sizzle.
Fashion of a Certain Age New Website Halsbrook.com Caters to Mature Shoppers
Robin Givhan
November 4, 2012
But Israelis and Palestinians don't vote in U.S. elections, whether they're hankering for peace or not.
What's This Jerusalem Flap All About?
Ali Gharib
September 6, 2012

Historical Examples of hankering

Also that hankering after an overt or practical effect seems to me an apostasy.
Essays, Second Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
But there was one yet—the biggest, the most blank, so to speak—that I had a hankering after.
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
Think I'm hankering about being smashed flatter'n a pancake, do you?
Phil Bradley's Mountain Boys
Silas K. Boone
I liked it much better than that of my father, but still had a hankering for the sea.
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
There's the widow Babbage, down to Dock: she always had a hankering for you.
The Adventures of Harry Revel
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

British Dictionary definitions for hankering

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 hankering

"mental craving," 1660s, see hanker.

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.