Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To have a strong, often restless desire.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To long or yearn keenly and with uneasiness; have an uneasy craving: usually followed by after or for.
- To linger with expectation; hang about.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To long (for) with a keen appetite and uneasiness; to have a vehement desire; -- usually with
for orafter - v. To linger in expectation or with desire.
WordNet 3.0
- v. desire strongly or persistently
Etymologies
- Perhaps from Dutch dialectal hankeren; see konk- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Gentle reader, if you have never been in battle or captured by robbers, you needn't "hanker" for the experience, but take it as you would your clothing, "second hand.”
“And look o'er the field -- yes! and "hanker" for more.”
“The solitude appealed to her sense of freedom; she did not "hanker" after a society she had never known.”
“So does he now hanker for the life he left behind?”
“Much as neurosurgeons might hanker after white coats with an exceedingly long train (borne through corridors and into the operating theater by respectful junior registrars), most people would regard such a thing as perverse.”
“I can rustle up an eight-course Indian meal after a week of cooking, my bhangra dance steps are starting to resemble the real thing, and I hanker after Shahrukh Khan rather than George Clooney.”
The Huffington Post: India In Chicago: A Guide To Devon Avenue
“Oh, I was never afraid of them, believe muh, but I didn't hanker after 'em.”
“Yes, strange sort of a chap. Wouldn't hanker to be bunk-mates with him.”
“Mr. Naimi's statements come as other OPEC members, including Venezuela, Algeria and Libya, hanker after a crude price of $100 a barrel.”
“And the queens ... well they're queens; they just hanker for a little attention now and again.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hanker’.
-
Good Words
fenestering, cetic, immanent, quickening, archetypal, shibboleth, soma, wetware, heritable, Apotheosis, halcyon, cellar door and 482 more...
-
Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
-
The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
-
ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
-
stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
-
Tolland's list
Those I've come across and try to keep fresh within my mind.
clandestine, dysphoric, indictive, vigil, fractious, assiduous, indefatigable, ubiquitous, insidious, paroicous, aplomb, sangfroid and 654 more...
-
Kaichi's Wordie Darlings, or I'm a Lo...
persnickety, discombobulated, braggadoccio, anthropomorphous, antelucan, confluxible, anomalous, poseur, gallivant, poppycock, falderal, gewgaw and 705 more...
-
2008 Wordlist
Hopefully, I'll be using this site for more than one year. It will be fun then to look back and see what new words I found worthy of notice in any given year.
All words spotted in 2008...longanimity, permalancer, breeder, biodegradable, handicapable, gender-neutral, translator, interpreter, translation, interpreting, kleptocracy, fanfiction and 1598 more...
-
another yet
anneal, copepod, cuckoo, fathead, intone, patter, cabriole, knickknack, boodle, kit, estrange, forebode and 209 more...
-
Unpleasant
I have an unwarranted aversion to these words.
torpid, grisly, sallow, hanker, loquacious, lugubrious, akimbo, pusillanimous, jocular, pastiche, welter
-
passionate words
irascible, ire, hieratic, hierodule, hierarch, hierophant, hieronymic, iron, gisarme, spiegeleisen, hieroglyph, passion and 23 more...
-
Words I should use more
moot, skedaddle, bosom, befuddled, hunky dory, zest, giddy, ruts, quibble, swerve, churn, hanker and 4 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hanker.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.