haggard
[hag-erd]
- 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.
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- Falconry. a wild or untamed hawk caught after it has assumed adult plumage.
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Origin of haggard
Synonyms
See more synonyms for haggard on Thesaurus.com1. emaciated, drawn, hollow-eyed.
Antonyms
1. robust.
Haggard
[hag-erd]
- (Sir) H(enry) Rider,1856–1925, English novelist.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for haggard
Contemporary Examples
He took the techniques of H. Rider Haggard and Jules Verne and brought them into the 20th century.
Next day, DSK was perp-walking his way, haggard and grizzled, into infamy.
Or of the fact that Haggard was a Hillary supporter and wrote a song endorsing her candidacy?
He was so haggard he looked “like hell,” he confided to Betsy.
Those who criticize the Duggars, Haggard said, cannot empathize with their pain and disappointment.
Historical Examples
The biting finger of agony had drawn lines upon his haggard brow.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
Renmark stepped into the light, and she saw his face was haggard with fatigue and anxiety.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
The officers, haggard but tireless, aroused them frequently.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
Sleep forsook the unfortunate men, and their eyes grew wild and haggard.
The Field of IceJules Verne
Her fright left her trembling, with haggard eyes in her pale face.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
haggard1
- 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
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- falconry a hawk that has reached maturity before being caughtCompare eyas, passage hawk
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Word Origin
C16: from Old French hagard wild; perhaps related to hedge
haggard2
- (in Ireland and the Isle of Man) an enclosure beside a farmhouse in which crops are stored
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Word Origin
C16: related to Old Norse heygarthr, from hey hay + garthr yard
Haggard
- Sir (Henry) Rider . 1856–1925, British author of romantic adventure stories, including King Solomon's Mines (1885)
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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper