hankering

IPA/hˈaŋkəɹɪŋ/
KK[hˈæŋkɚɪŋ]IPA/hˈæŋkərɪŋ/

hankering — noun

1. a strong feeling that you want something, especially food or an experience that

1.nounC1
Definition

a strong feeling that you want something, especially food or an experience that reminds you of an earlier time.

Example

Asher had a sudden hankering for the dumplings his grandmother used to make.

a hankering for + noun (food)

After ten years in Berlin, Hana still gets a hankering for Taipei night-market food.

get + a hankering for + noun

Common collocations
  • have a hankering for
  • get a hankering for
  • a sudden hankering
  • a secret hankering
Synonyms
  • craving

    stronger and often physical (food, drugs); more urgent than 'hankering'

  • yearning

    more emotional and literary; usually for a person, place, or lost time

  • longing

    deeper and sadder; suggests something hard or impossible to obtain

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

a hankering for + noun

a hankering to + verb

Usage Note

Almost always preceded by 'a' or 'the' and followed by 'for' + a noun (commonly a food, place, or activity) or 'to' + a base verb. Sounds slightly old-fashioned and warm — common in personal storytelling, less so in formal writing.

Common Mistakes

I am hankering chocolate.
I have a hankering for chocolate.
the noun needs an article and the preposition 'for'.
She has hankering about visiting Kyoto.
She has a hankering to visit Kyoto.
use 'to' + base verb, not 'about + -ing'.

hankering — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four nouns describe wanting something you do not have, but they differ in intensity, register, and target. 'Hankering' is informal and warm — often used for food or a return to something familiar (e.g. 'a hankering for home cooking'). 'Craving' is stronger and usually physical: cravings hit suddenly and feel hard to ignore, as with food, sleep, or addictive substances. 'Yearning' is more emotional and literary; you yearn for a person, a place, or a lost time, and the word carries a soft sadness. 'Longing' is the deepest and saddest of the four — it suggests something out of reach, perhaps forever. So you might say 'a hankering for ice cream', 'a craving for sugar', 'a yearning for one's hometown', and 'a longing for a parent who has died'.

hankering ↗craving ↗yearning ↗longing ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • have a hankering for
  • get a hankering for
  • hanker after something

Prepositions

Etymology

DutchEnglish

First recorded in English in the early 1600s. The verb 'hanker' came into English from Dutch dialect, where 'hankeren' meant to hang about wanting something — picture someone lingering near a kitchen, hoping for food. The '-ing' noun form was built on the verb soon after, in the same century, and has kept its homey, slightly old-fashioned flavour ever since.