hankering means A strong, restless desire, longing, or mental inclination. It carries an Arena rating of 1502, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, hankering ranks #2,982 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #3,054 of 17,135 for Most Malleable Words, #3,858 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #5,711 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words.
Why “hankering” is a great word
A strong, persistent, and restless desire or craving for something. From the verb 'hanker' (of unknown origin, possibly from Flemish) + the noun-forming suffix '-ing'. Unlike a "whim," which flits past like a moth at a lamp, or an "aspiration," which reaches toward dignified heights, a hankering is a visceral undertow. It is the scent of rain on dry earth calling you from a city apartment, the ghost-taste of a peach so ripe it bled juice down your wrist, or the midnight pull toward a book whose title you cannot quite recall—a testament to the body’s quiet, incorrigible wisdom over the mind's grander plans.
noun
- A strong, restless desire, longing, or mental inclination.e.g.“I found that he had dipped a little in chimerical studies and had a hankering after astrology and alchymy.” — 1840, Washington Irving, The Knight of Malta:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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