hearken back
verb
variants
or harken back
hearkened back or harkened back; hearkening back or harkening back; hearkens back or harkens back
: 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
Barbara ZaragozaGreenberg worked very closely with the laboratory which harkened back to his earliest days in the film business …—Ron Magid
Ron MagidExamples of hearken back in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Regents or viceroys hearken back to royalty and empires, and that’s not the look Trump is going for here—at least for now.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 8 Jan. 2026
In a scene that hearkened back to the Los Angeles and Chicago crackdowns, bystanders heckled the officers and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.
—Tim Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
Climate activists are usually leftists, but, in my experience, cottagecore enthusiasts more often hearken back to other aspects of the pre-civil rights era than just the bonnets and the butter churning.
—Hazlitt, 3 Dec. 2025
To some, Cheney’s Friday memorial service at the National Cathedral hearkened back to a time of civility and bipartisan unity that preceded today’s intense political division.
—W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 23 Nov. 2025
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Philip Elliott, Time, 8 Jan. 2026
In a scene that hearkened back to the Los Angeles and Chicago crackdowns, bystanders heckled the officers and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.
—Tim Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
Climate activists are usually leftists, but, in my experience, cottagecore enthusiasts more often hearken back to other aspects of the pre-civil rights era than just the bonnets and the butter churning.
—Hazlitt, 3 Dec. 2025
To some, Cheney’s Friday memorial service at the National Cathedral hearkened back to a time of civility and bipartisan unity that preceded today’s intense political division.
—W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 23 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hearken back
Cite this Entry
“Hearken back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hearken%20back. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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