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 acquired its current figurative meanings concerned with returning to the past. The variants hearken and harken (also very old words meaning "to listen") are also used, with and without back, as synonyms of hark back.
Examples of hark back in a Sentence
Marissa Lorusso, Pitchfork, 16 Jan. 2026
Her combed-through curls harked back to Marilyn Monroe’s signature blond aesthetic, but with a bit more volume at the roots.
—Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 12 Jan. 2026
There's sort of some harking back to a kind of 19th Century approach to this.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 10 Jan. 2026
Designers, after all, have been relentlessly obsessed with harking back to both of these influential eras as of late.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hark back
Cite this Entry
“Hark back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hark%20back. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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