hanker
/ˈhæŋkə(ɹ)/verb
hanker is spelled H-A-N-K-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 98,107th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, hanker means “To crave, want or desire” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hanker?
| Letters | 6: H-A-N-K-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 11 million words; the 98,107th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hanker?
Hanker appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 98,107th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hanker?
- /ˈhæŋkə(ɹ)/
Hanker has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hanker.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with hanker?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as hanker.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: harken.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of hanker
- hankers present, singular, he/she/it
- hankering participle, present
- hankered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hanker mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To crave, want or desire.
If you hanker for chocolate, you'll like this fudge recipe.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hanker in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to want:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hanker come from?
With a secondary frequentative suffix -er, ultimately pointing to Proto-Germanic *hankōną, an iterative to *hanhaną (“to hang”). Related to Dutch hunkeren (“to crave”), which continues the zero-grade iterative.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).