Hankering

noun, verb

noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A strong, restless desire, longing, or mental inclination. often

    "I found that he had dipped a little in chimerical studies and had a hankering after astrology and alchymy."

  2. 2
    a yearning for something or to do something wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of hanker form-of, gerund, participle, present

    ""[…] You don't mean," Mr. Osborne continued, gathering wrath and astonishment as the thought now first came upon him; "you don't mean that he's such a d—— fool as to be still hankering after that swindling old bankrupt's daughter? […]""

Synonyms

All synonyms
achingappetiteaspirationcravingcravingdesiderium

Example

More examples

"I'm hankering after a hamburger and fries but I don't have a grill and it's not safe to go out to eat."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.