haggard

[hag-erd]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR haggard ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

having a gaunt, wasted, or exhausted appearance, as from prolonged suffering, exertion, or anxiety; worn: the haggard faces of the tired troops.

wild; wild-looking: haggard eyes.

Falconry. (especially of a hawk caught after it has attained adult plumage) untamed.

noun

Falconry. a wild or untamed hawk caught after it has assumed adult plumage.

Origin of haggard

1560–70; orig., wild female hawk. See hag¹, -ard

Related formshag·gard·ly, adverbhag·gard·ness, noun

Synonyms for haggard

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR haggard ON THESAURUS.COM

1. emaciated, drawn, hollow-eyed.

Antonyms for haggard

1. robust.

Haggard

[hag-erd]

noun

(Sir) H(enry) Rider,1856–1925, English novelist.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for haggard

spare, skinny, lean, pale, wan, ashen, drawn, emaciated, exhausted, faded, fatigued, gaunt, ghastly, pallid, scrawny, shrunken, thin, tired, wasted, weak

Examples from the Web for haggard

Contemporary Examples of haggard

He took the techniques of H. Rider Haggard and Jules Verne and brought them into the 20th century.
Can Tarzan of the Apes Survive in a Post-Colonial World?
Ted Gioia
November 23, 2014
Next day, DSK was perp-walking his way, haggard and grizzled, into infamy.
French Political Sex Movie About DSK Sets Cannes Aquiver
Tracy McNicoll
May 17, 2014
Or of the fact that Haggard was a Hillary supporter and wrote a song endorsing her candidacy?
Vince Gill Confronts Fringe Groups and Gives Country Some Cred
Malcolm Jones
September 11, 2013
He was so haggard he looked “like hell,” he confided to Betsy.
The Story of the American Journalists Who Landed on D-Day
Timothy M. Gay
June 6, 2012
Those who criticize the Duggars, Haggard said, cannot empathize with their pain and disappointment.
The Duggars' Photo of Their Stillborn Baby Ignites Debate
Maria Elena Fernandez
December 16, 2011

Historical Examples of haggard

The biting finger of agony had drawn lines upon his haggard brow.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr
Renmark stepped into the light, and she saw his face was haggard with fatigue and anxiety.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr
The officers, haggard but tireless, aroused them frequently.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill
Sleep forsook the unfortunate men, and their eyes grew wild and haggard.
The Field of Ice
Jules Verne
Her fright left her trembling, with haggard eyes in her pale face.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for haggard

haggard

adjective

careworn or gaunt, as from lack of sleep, anxiety, or starvation

wild or unruly

(of a hawk) having reached maturity in the wild before being caught

noun

falconry a hawk that has reached maturity before being caughtCompare eyas, passage hawk

Derived Formshaggardly, adverbhaggardness, noun

Word Origin for haggard

C16: from Old French hagard wild; perhaps related to hedge

haggard

noun

(in Ireland and the Isle of Man) an enclosure beside a farmhouse in which crops are stored

Word Origin for haggard

C16: related to Old Norse heygarthr, from hey hay + garthr yard

Haggard

noun

Sir (Henry) Rider . 1856–1925, British author of romantic adventure stories, including King Solomon's Mines (1885)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for haggard

adj.

1560s, "wild, unruly" (originally in reference to hawks), from Middle French haggard, probably from Old French faulcon hagard "wild falcon," literally "falcon of the woods," from Middle High German hag "hedge, copse, wood," from Proto-Germanic *hagon-, from PIE root *kagh- "to catch, seize;" also "wickerwork, fence" (see hedge). OED, however, finds this whole derivation "very doubtful." Sense perhaps reinforced by Low German hager "gaunt, haggard." Sense of "with a haunted expression" first recorded 1690s, that of "careworn" first recorded 1853. Sense influenced by association with hag. Related: Haggardly; haggardness.