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.
Examples of hark back in a Sentence
Valorie Castellanos Clark, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025
Kenna Forde has also pegged Japanese label Shushu/Tong for Lower, the Japanese brand that traverses the hyper-feminine and more subversive, sensual takes on corporate wear that harks back to Helly.
—Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 6 Apr. 2025
Syfy’s latest original harks back to the mid-2010s when a glut of dramas presented zombies not as rabid, Romero-esque monsters hellbent on devouring flesh, but entirely civilized, regular-looking humans capable of reentering society.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 10 June 2025
The look had a decidedly retro feel about it—and in fact harks back to a similar Catherine Walker look that Princess Diana wore back in 1993, for the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic.
—Emily Chan, Vogue, 22 May 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 11 Jul. 2025.
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