haggard
[ hag-erd ]
/ ˈhæg ərd /
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.
RELATED WORDS
spare, skinny, lean, pale, wan, ashen, drawn, emaciated, exhausted, faded, fatigued, gaunt, ghastly, pallid, scrawny, shrunken, thin, tired, wasted, weak
Nearby words
- haggadah,
- haggaday,
- haggadic,
- haggadist,
- haggai,
- haggard, sir henry rider,
- haggardly,
- hagged,
- haggis,
- haggle
Origin of haggard
Haggard
[ hag-erd ]
/ ˈhæg ərd /
noun
(Sir) H(enry) Rider,1856–1925, English novelist.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for haggard
haggard
1/ (ˈhæɡəd) /
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
Word Origin for haggard
C16: from Old French hagard wild; perhaps related to hedge
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
/ (ˈhæɡəd) /
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
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haggard
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper