haggard

¹ American  

[hag-erd] / ˈhæg ərd /

adjective

1. having a gaunt, wasted, or exhausted appearance, as from prolonged suffering, exertion, or anxiety; worn.

   the haggard faces of the tired troops.

   Synonyms:

   hollow-eyed, drawn, emaciated

   Antonyms:

   robust

2. Archaic. wild; wild-looking.

   haggard eyes.

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

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noun

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

Haggard ² American  

[hag-erd] / ˈhæg ərd /

noun

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

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haggard ¹ British  

/ ˈhæɡəd /

adjective

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

2. wild or unruly

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

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noun

1. falconry a hawk that has reached maturity before being caught Compare eyas passage hawk

Haggard ² British  

/ ˈhæɡəd /

noun

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

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haggard ³ British  

/ ˈhæɡərd /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• haggardly adverb
• haggardness noun

Etymology

Origin of haggard

First recorded in 1560–70; originally, “wild female hawk”; hag ¹, -ard

Example Sentences

It would not have been my first choice for something to discard—I’d have nominated the haggard horse face that stares back at me daily when I shave—but nobody asked me.

From The Wall Street Journal

As she had nervously explained to Lord Fredrick and his haggard houseguest just the other day, she had chosen a nature theme for the baby’s room.

From Literature

“Caesar had now been performing for eight years,” Mr. Margolick writes, “and, thin and haggard, wore every week of it . . . it had happened in spurts rather than in increments.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Footage of the Palestinian detainees being released into Gaza, wearing gray prison sweatsuits, shows them looking haggard and thinner compared with photos taken before they were detained.

From The Wall Street Journal

"I did the one pair of wheels - I will say they're absolutely haggard," he laughed.

From BBC