harried

[har-eed]

adjective

1. harassed, agitated, or troubled by or as if by repeated attacks; beleaguered.

   This book is a balm for the harried, doubt-filled soul of a parent.

2. ravaged or devastated, as in war.

   Since leaving France, the Fourth Battalion had depended for its food on what it could glean from a harried countryside.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of harry.

Other Word Forms

• unharried adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of harried¹

harry ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

In the latter, another youngster emerges from a chaotic throng of people, standing apart from the hubbub while carrying a stack of books, suggesting that education offered opportunities to escape these harried circumstances.

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“It was such a harried moment,” she finally says.

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Their targets were harried parents stretching their limited funds.

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For a decade, we were harried Los Angeles co-parents, entwined by conversations involving camp sign-ups, parent/teacher conferences, pediatrician appointments, dividing spring break weeks and the antidotes of two troublesome felines.

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To hear business leaders tell it, their customers are frustrated: Instead of the human touch, patients get nothing at all, stymied by long wait times and harried, disempowered workers.

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