haggard

[ hag-erd ]
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adjective
  1. having a gaunt, wasted, or exhausted appearance, as from prolonged suffering, exertion, or anxiety; worn: the haggard faces of the tired troops.

  2. Archaic. wild; wild-looking: haggard eyes.

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

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

Origin of haggard

1
First recorded in 1560–70; originally, “wild female hawk”; see hag1, -ard

Other words for haggard

Opposites for haggard

Other words from haggard

  • hag·gard·ly, adverb
  • hag·gard·ness, noun

Words Nearby haggard

Other definitions for Haggard (2 of 2)

Haggard
[ hag-erd ]

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use haggard in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for haggard (1 of 3)

haggard1

/ (ˈhæɡəd) /


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

  2. wild or unruly

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

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

Origin of haggard

1
C16: from Old French hagard wild; perhaps related to hedge

Derived forms of haggard

  • haggardly, adverb
  • haggardness, noun

British Dictionary definitions for haggard (2 of 3)

haggard2

/ (ˈhæɡərd) /


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

Origin of haggard

2
C16: related to Old Norse heygarthr, from hey hay + garthr yard

British Dictionary definitions for Haggard (3 of 3)

Haggard

/ (ˈhæɡəd) /


noun
  1. 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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012