Word.ws English Dictionary

hither and thither

Syllables: hi·ther and thi·ther/ˌhɪðəɹ‿n̩ ˈðɪðə/US/ˌhɪðɚ‿n̩ ˈðɪðɚ/

hither and thither adverb: to here and to there, one place after another; in different directions.

Adverb

hither and thither (not comparable)

  1. To here and to there, one place after another; in different directions.
    • All alter, nothing finally decayes: / Hether and thether ſtill the Spirit ſtrayes; / Gueſt to all Bodies: out of beaſts it flyes / To men, from men to beaſts; and neuer dyes.1626, Ovid, “The Fifteenth Booke”, in George Sandys, transl., Ovid’s Metamorphosis Englished […], London: […] William Stansby, →OCLC, page 308
    • Noailles, Cogny and Company hang well back upon the Hill regions, and strong posts which are not yet menaced; or fly vaguely, more or less distractedly, hither and thither; not in the least like fighting Karl, much less like beating him.1864, Thomas Carlyle, “Preliminary: How the Moment Arrived”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume IV, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book XV, page 11
  2. (figuratively) In a disorderly manner.
    • Presently, men were running hither and thither in all ways. The artillery booming, forward, rearward, and on the flanks made jumble of ideas of direction.1895 October, Stephen Crane, chapter XII, in The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 119
    • It was fortunate that I was not holding a tea cup as she spoke, for hearing Sir Roderick thus addressed I gave another of my sudden starts and, had I had such a cup in my hand, must have strewn its contents hither and thither like a sower going forth sowing. As it was, I merely sent a cucumber...1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter V, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC

Verb

hither and thither (third-person singular simple present hithers and thithers, present participle hithering and thithering, simple past and past participle hithered and thithered)

  1. (archaic, intransitive) To move here and then there; to move in different directions.
    • I have been too long waiting for certainties; hithering and thithering being a condition under which I find it almost impossible to write, or indeed to do anything except fret myself to fiddlestrings.1837 August 29 (date written), Jane Welsh Carlyle, “Letter 21: To T[homas] Carlyle, Scotsbrig”, in Alexander Carlyle, editor, New Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle […], volume I, London...
    • Mr. C. [i.e., Thomas Carlyle] always hithers and thithers in a weary interminable way, before he can make up his mind what he would like most to do.1856 July 3 (date written), Jane Welsh Carlyle, “Letter 164. Mrs. Russell, Thornhill.”, in James Anthony Froude, editor, Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle […], volume II, London: Longmans...

Examples of hither and thither in a sentence

  • Thou shalt read the hearts of men as an open writing, and hither and thither shalt thou lead them as thy pleasure listeth.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “The Spirit of Life”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co....
  • The Stirling-Oban line has an even more sinuous course, as it winds hither and thither to obtain a passage through the depths of the mountains.1951 January, Robert M. Hogg, “Crossing Scotland's Mountain Barriers by Rail”, in Railway Magazine, page 17:
  • “Which means, if the term is not familiar to you, a chap who flits hither and thither pinching everything he can lay his hands on.”1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

Synonyms of hither and thither

Forms of hither and thither

third-person singular presenthithers and thithers
present participlehithering and thithering
past participlehithered and thithered
pasthithered and thithered

Origin of hither and thither

The adverb is derived from hither + and + thither. The verb is derived from the phrase “to come hither and go thither”.

Words that rhyme with hither and thither

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about hither and thither

What does hither and thither mean?
Hither and thither means to here and to there, one place after another; in different directions.
How do you use hither and thither in a sentence?
Thou shalt read the hearts of men as an open writing, and hither and thither shalt thou lead them as thy pleasure listeth.
What part of speech is hither and thither?
Hither and thither can be an adverb or a verb.
How do you pronounce hither and thither?
Hither and thither is pronounced /ˌhɪðəɹ‿n̩ ˈðɪðə/ (UK).

Words near hither and thither in the dictionary

  1. Hithaadhoo
  2. Hithaadhoogalaa
  3. Hithadhoo
  4. hithe
  5. hither
  6. hither and thither
  7. hither and yon
  8. hither and yonder
  9. Hither Green
  10. hithered and thithered
  11. hithering and thithering

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hither and thither (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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