English Reference
Adverb

hither

adv. place
C2 Proficiency US /ˈhɪðɝ/ UK /hˈɪðɐ/ hith·er

adv.toward this place. It is an old-fashioned or poetic word that people rarely use in modern conversation.

adv.toward this place or direction.


SIMPLE

The traveler walked hither to reach the village.

CONTEXTUAL

In the old poem, the knight rode hither to meet his lady at the castle gates.

COMPLEX

The poet used the word hither to evoke a sense of ancient, formal movement, contrasting the modern prose with a more traditional, rhythmic flow.

But the Atlantic seems unlikely to turn into Grand Central Station, with hurricanes tracking hither and thither with hyper intensities.

Ars Technica· 5 Aug 2026

From Old English hider, from Proto-Germanic *hidrê. Cognate with Latin citer.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin gem-pro *hidrê
Level C2 · Proficiency
Frequency Occasional
Updated