hark
Americanverb (used without object)
-
harks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
harked,
past participle, past
-
harking
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
harks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
harked,
past participle, past
-
harking
present participle
noun
verb phrase
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
harksimple
-
harkssimple
-
have harkedperfect
-
has harkedperfect
-
am harkingprogressive
-
are harkingprogressive
-
is harkingprogressive
-
have been harkingperfect progressive
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has been harkingperfect progressive
Past
-
harkedsimple
-
had harkedperfect
-
was harkingprogressive
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were harkingprogressive
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had been harkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hark
1175–1225; Middle English herken, earlier herkien, Old English *heorcian; cognate with Old Frisian herkia, harkia; akin to Middle Dutch harken, Middle High German, German horchen. See hearken, hear
Explanation
Hark! This is an old fashioned word for “listen up!” Hark also means “to look back.” If you ride a horse to school, your behavior harks back to the days before cars. Hark is an order to pay attention and listen carefully, but it also means to go back to or remember something from the past. Hark has an interesting origin: it comes from the term "to hark back," which was when hunting dogs retraced the scent of their prey when they had lost it to try to pick it up again. Using hark these days sounds very literary and old fashioned. It harks back to ye olde times.
Vocabulary lists containing hark
Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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The Tempest
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Words for Carolers
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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:
The Bavarian forest beautifully stands in for 1930s Oregon and cinematographer Matteo Cocco balances ’70s-inspired slow zooms with composed, high-contrast images that hark to early 20th century styles of photography.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
The peculiar details in his contested fortune hark back to another strange will from 50 years ago, involving yet another Las Vegas-based entrepreneur, known more now for his oddities than his accomplishments: Howard Hughes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Indisputably, there are signs—some of which hark back to the dot-com era—that it is.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
Like is fellow crew, his words hark back to a bygone space age, and the words of then President John F. Kennedey in 1962:
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025
He was a very plain-featured man, with nothing in his looks or in his dress that made memory cry hark.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
That point harks back to a similar, unfulfilled promise by his father.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
The new model, unveiled at the Paris Motor Show, is a small city runabout with retro styling which harks back to one of the company's most famous designs.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
As if to underscore the radical turn these artists were making, the paintings are hung on an ornate plum-red wallpaper in a wainscoted gallery that harks back to the Grand Palais’s look.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
The battle harks back to the January 2025 Eaton fire which spread toxic ash over swaths of Altadena and Pasadena.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
He painted it from the heart: the scene harks back to his time in the Borinage, and it reflects his attachment to his own family and to the idea of family, to the ideal family.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
The energy summit harked back to a time in the once-prosperous South American nation when oil was the engine of growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
It harked back to the end of last season, when chanting against the ownership began.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
In February 1947 the couturier Christian Dior harked back to the rosy autochrome with his first collection, “Corolle,” named for the petaled cup of a flower and later christened the New Look.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
The rash of injuries in the opener harked to 2022, when the defending Super Bowl-champion Rams lost several offensive linemen during a season-opening rout by the Buffalo Bills.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2024
It also harked back to her own traditional Orthodox upbringing where the home was run by one dominating figure with strict rules and regulations.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
The two leaders talked up the strength of the U.S.-China relationship, harking back to historical connections between the two nations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
One by one, the queer and trans cast members share fictionalized personal stories, harking back to childhood moments before any declaration of identity was possible.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025
"Which side do they cheer for? It's an interesting test. Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are?"
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2025
And harking back to Sam Mendes’ polarizing 2003 revival, I wistfully reflected on the broken-doll quality that Bernadette Peters brought to a character formed in the battleship mode of Ethel Merman, the original Rose.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
"But when all's said and done," said she, harking back for a reprieve, "perhaps you only recollected Sonnenberg in your dream better than I did ... just now...."
From Somehow Good by William Frend De Morgan
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