haggard

1 of 2

adjective

hag·​gard ˈha-gərd How to pronounce haggard (audio)
1
of a hawk : not tamed
2
a
: wild in appearance
b
: having a worn or emaciated appearance : gaunt
haggard faces looked up sadly from out of the strawW. M. Thackeray
haggardly adverb
haggardness noun

haggard

2 of 2

noun

1
: an adult hawk caught wild
2
obsolete : an intractable person

Examples of haggard in a Sentence

Adjective She looked tired and haggard. We were shocked by his haggard appearance.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
To me, baby-proofing is about figuring out how to have a gorgeous space that doesn't look haggard after a couple of years. Ariel Okin, Vogue, 23 Feb. 2024 An 11-game home win streak ended and the haggard 49ers dragged a three-game losing streak into their bye. Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2024 By comparison, a minuscule amount of the budget goes toward providing shelter and care for influxes of haggard migrants. Eileen Sullivan, New York Times, 13 July 2023 Many of their friends had been killed there, and their expressions were haggard, a mix of defeat and defiance. Elliot Ackerman, Foreign Affairs, 24 Aug. 2021 With the prospect of World War III hanging in the balance, the old, haggard mercenaries and fresh-faced young ones have no choice but to storm the ship and stop the bad guys. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 7 June 2023 The haggard gent has a point. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 25 May 2021 The film suffers a stuttering start — and the introduction of a poor framing device with a sit-down Holiday interview — before going back in time 10 years and tracing the toll drugs and abuse slowly take on an increasingly haggard Holiday, leading to her death in 1959. Mark Kennedy, baltimoresun.com, 26 Feb. 2021 Does the front of your house look haggard? Popular Science, 29 May 2020
Noun
The whole story unfolds during a sit-down conversation in the present as a now haggard and grieving Roderick looks back on his life with C. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly), the attorney who's long sought to put these corrupt tycoons behind bars. Ew Staff, EW.com, 8 Sep. 2023 Young men with haggard faces and gaping mouths roamed the streets. Aatish Taseer, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2023 Fast forward 35 years and the station looks straight-up haggard. Taylor Dolven, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Sep. 2023 Kalinina told me of a woman who, during Russia’s occupation, opened her front door to see a haggard and bloody young man wearing a woman’s coat. Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2023 After 20 years away, King Odysseus (Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2023 Here’s any official synopsis for the film: After 20 years away Odysseus (Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. Manori Ravindran, Variety, 15 Feb. 2023 In the fall of 1522, a leaky ship made port in Spain with 18 haggard crewmen, all that survived of some 240 who’d manned a bold, mercantile mission. National Geographic, 11 Aug. 2022 Town officials argue that redeveloping the haggard and mostly empty plaza and its roughly 20 acres is a key component to reviving the entire Silver Lane corridor. Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 29 May 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'haggard.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Noun

Middle French hagard

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1566, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1567, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of haggard was circa 1566

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Dictionary Entries Near haggard

Cite this Entry

“Haggard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/haggard. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

haggard

adjective
hag·​gard
ˈhag-ərd
: very thin especially from great hunger, worry, or pain

Biographical Definition

Haggard

biographical name

Hag·​gard ˈha-gərd How to pronounce Haggard (audio)
Sir (Henry) Rider 1856–1925 English novelist

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