hark

IPA/hɑːk/
KK[hˈɑrk]IPA/hɑːrk/

hark — verb

  • harkpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • harkshe / she / it
  • harkedpast simple
  • harking-ing form

1. an old word used as a command, telling someone to pay attention and listen caref

1.verbintransitiveC1
Definition

an old word used as a command, telling someone to pay attention and listen carefully to a sound or to what another person is saying

Example

Hark! I hear the old church bells ringing in the distance.

imperative exclamation 'Hark!'

Hark at those children — they sound like they are having a wonderful time.

collocation: hark at [someone/something]

Common collocations
  • hark at
  • hark to
Synonyms
  • listen

    the modern, everyday equivalent used in all contexts

  • pay attention

    functional equivalent, broader in meaning but can replace 'hark' in most imperative uses

  • hearken

    even more archaic variant of the same Old English root, found in literary and biblical texts

Antonyms
  • ignore

    to deliberately pay no attention to a sound or speaker

  • disregard

    formal, to take no notice of something despite being aware of it

Grammar Patterns

hark + exclamation

hark at + noun phrase

hark to + noun phrase

Usage Note

Almost exclusively used in the imperative. Common in historical fiction, poetry, and solemn or formal literary speech. The phrase hark at [someone/something] can express amused or ironic attention to what someone is saying, while hark to [sound] directs attention to a specific noise.

Common Mistakes

I harked to the lecture all morning.
Hark! I can hear the lecturer speaking from the hall.
'hark' is almost never used in past-tense or progressive forms; it is a fixed imperative exclamation in modern English.

Word family

  • hearken
    verbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Hark is the most restricted of these words — it survives only as a fixed imperative in literary or playful contexts. Listen is the standard modern verb for directing someone's attention to a sound ("Listen to the rain on the roof") and works in all tenses and registers. Hear describes the passive experience of sound reaching your ears ("I can hear the traffic from my office") rather than an active effort to listen. Hearken is an even older variant of hark, found in biblical and highly literary English ("Hearken to my words"), but it is even rarer today. Pay attention is the broadest functional alternative, covering visual, auditory, and mental focus ("Pay attention to the road signs"). For example, a teacher might say "Listen everyone" or "Pay attention class," but only a storyteller aiming for an old-fashioned tone would say "Hark!"

listen ↗hear ↗hearkenpay attention

Common collocations

Phrases

  • hark at [someone/something]
  • hark to [sound]

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Hark comes from Old English heorcnian, meaning 'to listen' or 'to pay attention', which is related to the Old English word hīeran ('to hear'). The same root gave rise to hearken, a longer variant that stayed in literary use longer. By the 1500s, hark had shortened into its modern form and was commonly used as an exclamation in plays and poetry. The word is related to German horchen ('to listen') and Dutch horen ('to hear').

First known use

14th century

14th century, in the meaning defined above