hark back

verb

harked back; harking back; harks back

intransitive verb

1

: to turn back to an earlier topic or circumstance

harked back to his youth

2

: to go back to something as an origin or source

a style that harks back to the turn of the century

Did you know?

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 of hark back

• remember
• recall

Examples of hark back in a Sentence

the new stadium, designed for nostalgic appeal, harks back to the intimate ballparks of yore

Recent Examples on the Web

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

For Dylan, 2016 Nobel Prize winner in Literature, Dion DiMucci is anything but a complete unknown, harking back to his enchantment that 1959 winter night in Duluth. —Jeff Metcalfe, AZCentral.com, 3 Dec. 2025

In the ensuing years, baseball architecture would hark back to early-twentieth-century ballparks like Fenway and Wrigley. —John Seabrook, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025

The fall-winter holiday season harks back to an America that, while often riven and contentious, was always rooted in man's permanent sources of meaning. —MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for hark back

• aback
• anzac
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback
• blackjack
• brownback
• buyback
• callback
• cognac
• comeback

Kids Definition

hark back

verb

: to recall or cause to recall something earlier

hark back to the good old days