Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

hanker

[hang-ker] / ˈhæŋ kər /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Even if he does still hanker after a prominent political role, he will almost certainly be barred from getting one.

From BBC ● May 10, 2026

I didn’t understand then that it is possible to hanker deeply after something that is neither pretty nor useful, just because of the person who once used it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026

Intelligence officials have repeatedly made clear they hanker after the same generative AI tools that promise to revolutionize swaths of business and modernize economies.

From Seattle Times ● May 13, 2024

Those communities also hanker for weather radar to track incoming squalls, Way says.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 8, 2023

There is no question about our good intentions in this matter: we all hanker, collectively, to become applied scientists as soon as we can, overnight if possible.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Restaurants can run with seating limitations, but few are — nobody hankers for sit-down, Iowa Chops until they know the real score.

From Washington Post ● May 28, 2020

For the designer Sandy Liang, who recently sponsored a pop-up shop on her island, it is a consumer who hankers for playfulness in a fashion world that often takes itself too seriously.

From New York Times ● May 6, 2020

But whereas Johnson craves fame, Stewart hankers for something more like the abyss.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 19, 2019

And if Meghan hankers for a stretch of sand to remind her of home, then we recommend she heads to West Wittering with its colourful beach huts.

From BBC ● May 19, 2018

‘Our Knowledge’, in Locke’s phrase, which must conform to observation, experience and testimony, is knowledge as acquaintance, but Locke still hankers over justified true belief.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Later in her career, she was, all too often, called upon to play "dragons" and "old bags" when she hankered after more glamorous roles.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2025

Like everybody else Reuters spoke to in Sirte, he viewed the 2011 uprising as a foreign plot to destroy Libya and hankered for calmer times when Gaddafi lavished money on the city.

From Reuters ● Jun. 26, 2022

Back then, fear of centralism sprang from populists such as William Jennings Bryan, who hankered for easier credit for farmers.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 21, 2022

The romantic in me hankered after that golden-age ambience, and Kingston’s plight seemed to sum up the decline of chess since it had been front-page news in the Fischer era.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 14, 2016

Why she hankered to be a teacher, I couldn’t tell you.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

The thin float and retail investor enticement created an artificial scarcity — if you were a small investor hankering for a piece of SpaceX action the only place to go was an overheated stock market.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Fans have been hankering for a follow-up to GTA 5 after it was released back in 2013, and became one of the best-selling games of all time.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

The stories frame the all-consuming desire for retaliation as an integral aspect of our mortal lives; no one gets out without hankering for a bit of vengeance.

From Salon ● May 19, 2026

It’s the absolute goal of every resort operator to satisfy that hankering.

From Slate ● Apr. 11, 2026

“I’ve got a hankering for your good fried chicken,” I told my aunt.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney




Vocabulary lists containing hanker


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Just like flashcards, but way more fun

Don't take our word for it. Leave the boring studying behind and join VocabTrainer today. You'll learn even faster and never look back.

Take me to Vocabulary.com