Hanker

/ˈhæŋkər/
verb

To have a strong, often restless wish or longing for something.

I really hanker for a hot cup of coffee now that it's so cold outside.
Visual representation of "hanker" - To have a strong, often restless wish or longing for something

Often appears as...

  • hanker for
  • hanker after
verb

To feel a strong, often restless desire.

He is hankering to start a new project.
Visual representation of "hanker" - To feel a strong, often restless desire

Often appears as...

  • hanker to
  • hanker for
verb

To have a strong, often restless wish or longing for something.

I really hanker for a hot cup of coffee now that it's so cold outside.
Visual representation of "hanker" - To have a strong, often restless wish or longing for something

Often appears as...

  • hanker for
  • hanker after
verb

To feel a strong, often restless desire.

He is hankering to start a new project.
Visual representation of "hanker" - To feel a strong, often restless desire

Often appears as...

  • hanker to
  • hanker for
Definition 1 of 2
Visual representation of "hanker"
LampPro Tip 1/3

Intensity of Longing

Conveys a deep emotional desire, more than just wanting something casually.

Illustration for Intensity of Longing
After months abroad, I hanker for my mother's homemade pie.
LampPro Tip 2/3

Often Emotional

Use 'hanker' when expressing a heartfelt or personal craving, not for everyday needs.

Illustration for Often Emotional
As the violinist played, I hankered for the days when we danced together.
LampPro Tip 3/3

Not for Urgent Needs

Suitable for whims or wishes without urgency, not for immediate, critical desires.

Illustration for Not for Urgent Needs
Even after eating, I still hanker for a taste of that chocolate cake.
LampPro Tip 1/3

Intensity of Longing

Conveys a deep emotional desire, more than just wanting something casually.

Illustration for Intensity of Longing
After months abroad, I hanker for my mother's homemade pie.
LampPro Tip 2/3

Often Emotional

Use 'hanker' when expressing a heartfelt or personal craving, not for everyday needs.

Illustration for Often Emotional
As the violinist played, I hankered for the days when we danced together.
LampPro Tip 3/3

Not for Urgent Needs

Suitable for whims or wishes without urgency, not for immediate, critical desires.

Illustration for Not for Urgent Needs
Even after eating, I still hanker for a taste of that chocolate cake.
LampPro Tip 1/3

Intensity of Longing

Conveys a deep emotional desire, more than just wanting something casually.

Illustration for Intensity of Longing
After months abroad, I hanker for my mother's homemade pie.
LampPro Tip 2/3

Often Emotional

Use 'hanker' when expressing a heartfelt or personal craving, not for everyday needs.

Illustration for Often Emotional
As the violinist played, I hankered for the days when we danced together.
LampPro Tip 3/3

Not for Urgent Needs

Suitable for whims or wishes without urgency, not for immediate, critical desires.

Illustration for Not for Urgent Needs
Even after eating, I still hanker for a taste of that chocolate cake.
Visual representation of the word "Hanker"

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Video examples

Laurie Santos: How...

sort of keeping track of their monkey token, as it were. Do the monkeys do anything like this? And so our monkey marketplace was born. The way this works is that our monkeys normally live in a kind of big zoo social enclosure. When they get a hankering for some treats,

Video examples

Where is home? - Pico...

which he says that man is poor not who has little but who hankers after more and of course I'm not suggesting that anybody here go to a monastery that's not the point but I do think it's only

Video examples

Laurie Santos: How...

sort of keeping track of their monkey token, as it were. Do the monkeys do anything like this? And so our monkey marketplace was born. The way this works is that our monkeys normally live in a kind of big zoo social enclosure. When they get a hankering for some treats,

Video examples

Where is home? - Pico...

which he says that man is poor not who has little but who hankers after more and of course I'm not suggesting that anybody here go to a monastery that's not the point but I do think it's only

Example 1 of 2

Quote examples

Richard K. Morgan

English Author

I'd always had a hankering to write some old-school sword and sorcery. And there certainly are advantages to that particular form - for one thing, you're able to go all-out on the imaginative front, with a lot less concern for the usual unities of time and space and character.
Portrait of Richard K. Morgan

Quote examples

Alexander Armstrong

English Actor

So, if I ever find myself hankering for the long, respectful silences of the olden days, I remind myself that classical music broadcasting was a whisker away from becoming one long silence itself.
Portrait of Alexander Armstrong

Quote examples

Howard Jacobson

British Novelist

You don't have to believe the electorate secretly hankers for a dose of Marxist-Leninism to accept that there are deep levels of justified bitterness out there waiting to be tapped.
Portrait of Howard Jacobson

Quote examples

Mariella Frostrup

British Journalist

I can't sleep in an isolated place without pills, earplugs, and both my children in bed with me for fear of scary, feral characters with a hankering for the wilderness.
Portrait of Mariella Frostrup

Quote examples

James Dean

Actor

My purpose in life does not include a hankering to charm society.
Portrait of James Dean

Quote examples

Antara Mali

Indian Actress

I never really hankered after big roles and films.
Portrait of Antara Mali

Quote examples

Michael Ball

English Actor

I'd always had this hankering to try some opera.
Portrait of Michael Ball

Quote examples

Adam Weishaupt

German Clergyman

The hankering of the mind is irresistible.
Portrait of Adam Weishaupt

Quote examples

Ian McShane

English Actor

I've never hankered for any role.
Portrait of Ian McShane

Quote examples

Milkha Singh

Indian Athlete

I don't hanker after awards.
Portrait of Milkha Singh

Quote examples

Richard K. Morgan

English Author

I'd always had a hankering to write some old-school sword and sorcery. And there certainly are advantages to that particular form - for one thing, you're able to go all-out on the imaginative front, with a lot less concern for the usual unities of time and space and character.
Portrait of Richard K. Morgan

Quote examples

Alexander Armstrong

English Actor

So, if I ever find myself hankering for the long, respectful silences of the olden days, I remind myself that classical music broadcasting was a whisker away from becoming one long silence itself.
Portrait of Alexander Armstrong

Quote examples

Howard Jacobson

British Novelist

You don't have to believe the electorate secretly hankers for a dose of Marxist-Leninism to accept that there are deep levels of justified bitterness out there waiting to be tapped.
Portrait of Howard Jacobson

Quote examples

Mariella Frostrup

British Journalist

I can't sleep in an isolated place without pills, earplugs, and both my children in bed with me for fear of scary, feral characters with a hankering for the wilderness.
Portrait of Mariella Frostrup

Quote examples

James Dean

Actor

My purpose in life does not include a hankering to charm society.
Portrait of James Dean

Quote examples

Antara Mali

Indian Actress

I never really hankered after big roles and films.
Portrait of Antara Mali

Quote examples

Michael Ball

English Actor

I'd always had this hankering to try some opera.
Portrait of Michael Ball

Quote examples

Adam Weishaupt

German Clergyman

The hankering of the mind is irresistible.
Portrait of Adam Weishaupt

Quote examples

Ian McShane

English Actor

I've never hankered for any role.
Portrait of Ian McShane

Quote examples

Milkha Singh

Indian Athlete

I don't hanker after awards.
Portrait of Milkha Singh
Example 1 of 10
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