hark back
verb
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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.
Examples of hark back in a Sentence
Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 10 June 2025
The look had a decidedly retro feel about it—and in fact harks back to a similar Catherine Walker look that Princess Diana wore back in 1993, for the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic.
—Emily Chan, Vogue, 22 May 2025
But the essence of the massacre harks back to another infamous 1968 event: the Tlatelolco massacre.
—Manuel Betancourt, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2025
While Lineker has frequently shared anti-Israel content on social media that has been within the scope of the BBC’s new social media guidelines, the image of the cartoon rat – an antisemitic trope that harks back to 1930s Nazi Germany – has been heavily criticized.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 13 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for hark back
Cite this Entry
“Hark back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hark%20back. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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