hark back
verb
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Hark Back Got Its Start in Hunting
Hark, a very old word meaning "to listen," was used as a cry in hunting. The master of the hunt might cry "Hark! Forward!" or "Hark! Back!" The cries became set phrases, both as nouns and verbs. Thus, a "hark back" was a retracing of a route by dogs and hunters, and to "hark back" was to turn back along the path. From its use in hunting, the verb soon acquired its current figurative meanings. The variants hearken and harken (also very old words meaning “to listen”) are also used, with and without back, as synonyms of hark back.
Synonyms
Examples of hark back in a Sentence
Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 8 Apr. 2024
Pressman, furiously working to keep the lights on, deflected questions about artistic decision-making and financial management that harked back to leadership issues predating the pandemic fallout.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2024
But Ibiza also has a quiet side, with pristine secluded beaches, a pastoral countryside, and small inland villages with a bohemian soul that harks back to the island’s hippie past.
—Siobhan Reid, Vogue, 27 Mar. 2024
It was replaced with the current two-story, four-bedroom hacienda-style main residence, which harks back to the property’s 1910 roots as a ranch and citrus orchard.
—Degen Pener, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Mar. 2024
Built in 1911 by architects Walter Emory and Marshall Webb in a half-timbered style that harks back to Tudor England, the home has a basalt rock foundation.
—Kristina Linnea Garcia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Mar. 2024
Recently, some companies have been creating speakeasy-style rooms harking back to Prohibition days to add interest to workplaces.
—Jane Margolies, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Mar. 2024
Put me on the 761 Sylmar bypassing the 405, taking Sepulveda instead, threading underneath the freeway and coming up into the craggy foothills of Bel-Air, the bushy chaparral harking back to the ecology of the land before the city.
—Mark Gozonsky, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024
All of them hark back to a rowdy, rough-and-tumble time when movies were content to be vessels of visceral wish fulfillment and mindless, instantly disposable escapism.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hark back.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Hark back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hark%20back. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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