HEARKENS BACK (TO) Synonyms: 31 Similar and Opposite Words

hearkens back (to)

verb

variants or harkens back (to)

present tense third-person singular of hearken back (to)

as in remembers

to bring back to mind an elderly man who liked to hearken back to "the good old days"

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hearkens back (to)

Verb

George Simeka, a poultry keeper and urban farmer who used to live along the Nairobi River, remembers hearing his neighbors scream during the 2024 floods.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 Nov. 2026
Each remembers a game when their favorite play went the distance, and neither will settle for less.

— Clayton Cullaton, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Nov. 2026

Definition of remembers

Verb

This day, Newsom recalls being joined by Pete Pianezzi, a former bank robber wrongly convicted of a 1937 Los Angeles double homicide.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2026
Goldstein recalls that trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who serves as president of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, asked what his motivation was for making his recording available for release.

— Donald Liebenson, Chicago Tribune, 10 Nov. 2026

Definition of recalls

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

hearkens

hearkens back (to)

hearkens (to)

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Hearkens back (to).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hearkens%20back%20%28to%29. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of hearkens back (to)

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

lissome

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes