hearken back

verb

variants or harken back

hearkened back or harkened back; hearkening back or harkening back; hearkens back or harkens back

intransitive verb

: to go back to or recall to mind something in the past : hark back

—usually used with to

This place caters to Americans and hearkens back to days when the town attracted famous celebrities.

—Barbara Zaragoza

Greenberg worked very closely with the laboratory which harkened back to his earliest days in the film business …

—Ron Magid

Examples of hearken back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The experience for the Walkers hearkened back to the murder of UA Professor Thomas Meixner, who in 2022 was shot nine times by a former student while on campus. — Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 3 Sep. 2026

The unwelcome racial overtones of the Black teen’s death while accompanied mostly by White friends hearkened back to Mississippi’s painful past and struck a nerve that garnered national interest in the case. — Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026

Federal immigration detention in local facilities hearkens back to earlier eras of expanding American incarceration. — Ella Siegrist, The Conversation, 28 Aug. 2026

Seeing the Braves compete in this series with the Dodgers, from the walk-off win to the ace performances to the timely snags to Truist Park’s eruptions, hearkened back memories of October 2021. — Gabriel Burns, AJC.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1900, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hearken back

• almanac
• camelback
• cardiac
• carryback
• cluniac
• diamondback
• lumberjack
• maniac
• paperback
• piggyback
• quarterback
• saddleback