New YorkerWilliam Shakespeare
Did you know?
Hie Isn't a Word of the Past
Hie has been part of English since the 12th century, and it stems from the even hoarier hīgian, an Old English word meaning "to strive" or "to hasten." Hie enjoyed a high popularity period from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and you're sure to encounter it in the literature of those times—writers from Shakespeare to Twain penned it into their prose. But don't get the idea that hie is just a word of the past; it regularly pops up in current publications as well—often, though not always, in contexts in which the author is wanting to approximate an old-timey way of communicating.
Examples of hie in a Sentence
Peter Rowe, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Jan. 2024
Such shows—in major museums in major cities—are perfect for the summer, when much of the art world has hied off to beaches and country houses, but when regular-folk tourists arrive in droves.
—Peter Plagens, WSJ, 8 June 2019
YESTERDAY’S WORD — HOMICIDE hemic hide hied hoed home medic mice midi mode iced idiom iodic chide chime code coed come demo dice dime dome echo
To purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com.
—Kathleen Saxe, The Mercury News, 10 May 2017
Cite this Entry
“Hie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hie. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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