hearken
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hearkensimple
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hearkenssimple
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have hearkenedperfect
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has hearkenedperfect
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am hearkeningprogressive
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are hearkeningprogressive
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is hearkeningprogressive
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have been hearkeningperfect progressive
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has been hearkeningperfect progressive
Past
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hearkenedsimple
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had hearkenedperfect
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was hearkeningprogressive
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were hearkeningprogressive
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had been hearkeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hearken
1150–1200; Middle English hercnen, Old English he ( o ) rcnian, suffixed form of assumed *heorcian; see hark, -en 1
Explanation
Hearken is an old fashioned form of the word hark, meaning "to listen" (see hark). In the Bible, prophets and saints are always telling people to hearken to their words. While hark is still used today, hearken is pretty much obsolete — unless perhaps you happen to be an old school preacher. Hearken, like hark, can also mean to look back to something in the past, though there is often a critical sense to the word. To hearken back to an old memory or event is usually to do it in a way that may be annoying to other people or perhaps even damaging or self-defeating to the one doing the hearkening. Frequently spelled harken in the US.
Vocabulary lists containing hearken
"The Tell-Tale Heart," Vocabulary from the short story
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"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards
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"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte, Chapters 1–5
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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 sounded strange, like a song out of time — Melanie said she intended it to hearken to the 1930s — sung with what could now be called a warbling “indie girl voice.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
These require a considerable amount of work and hearken back to the day when someone in the house didn’t mind sorting through laundry in the cage that hung from the ceiling in the basement.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 19, 2022
The numbers hearken back to California’s punishing 2012-2016 drought, when then-Gov.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2022
It's also got ground pork, shrimp, lemongrass, and lots of bright herbs, and is served with a fish sauce dipping sauce — flavors that skew Vietnamese, but also hearken back to Cantonese traditions.
From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2021
“Mordred,” he said, “for dear sakes, hearken reason. Ye’ll be a brave hind and let it bide? I am the elder of ye, and can see what ill will come.”
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
A line of dialogue hearkens back to the beginning in a way that might be thought of as closure, as a circle closes without going anywhere, and yet things are not the same.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
It all hearkens back to the move that may have defined Mnuchin’s career.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 16, 2024
Riley’s work hearkens to Krautrock and what would be coming in post-rock.
From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
This film in some ways hearkens visually back to some classic horror films, to "Frankenstein," to "Metropolis."
From Salon ● Dec. 12, 2023
It hearkens back to the long-ago rope, swinging in the slight breeze.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
As directed by James Griffiths, Mr. Basden and Mr. Key’s screenplay hearkened back to “Local Hero” with its warm glow of appreciation for U.K. oddballs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
Carney revealed it on Friday during his first speech as prime minister when he hearkened back - with a shiny polish - to the origins of this former colony.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2025
I hearkened it back to, “What is actually beautiful? And do I believe in it?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2024
The judge also hearkened back to the days that Silicon Valley consisted mostly of orchards farmed by immigrants.
From Washington Times ● May 27, 2023
Slant and Will listened; and even Bono, when he was by, hearkened some and quipped.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Parsons said liminal spaces all share a quality of feeling familiar: hearkening fragments of distant memories or experiences during childhood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
Subconsciously hearkening back to his childhood sleep experiences, he adds, “I wanted this story to feel like a nightmare that just keeps getting worse and worse and worse and worse.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Unfortunately, when we’re taught that there are only eight planets and these planets reign in their orbits, we’re hearkening back to the old geocentric concept.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 16, 2024
This came three days after forcing 17 turnovers in a win over Cal, hearkening back to the days of defensive dominance when Matisse Thybulle was leading the nation in steals.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 15, 2022
“I—I was just hearkening to the ten o’clock bell, ma’am.”
From The Little Minister by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew)
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.
