hag

noun

ˈhag How to pronounce hag (audio)
Definition of hagnext
1
as in witch
a mean or ugly old woman although she looks like a hag, she's really the sweetest old lady you could ever hope to meet

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in sorceress
a woman believed to have often harmful supernatural powers falsely accused of being a hag who had caused the plague

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hag Martha’s Vineyard also has knife-wielding men in masks and creepy sea hags! — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026 And nor are any of the spooky figures, which range from 1950s housewives to toothless hags. — The Week, TheWeek, 7 May 2026 Ah, the famous and epic love between an up-and-coming designer and his hag. — Emma Specter, Vogue, 19 Feb. 2026 The regulars fired at them with a booming 12-pounder that made the American boys lift their knees like old hags, trip and founder as tentacles of water dragged them under. — Literary Hub, 9 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hag
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hag
  1. witch
  2. crone
Noun
  • The standout interlude is the soldiers’ visit to the island domain of Circe, a treacherous witch played with deceptive calm and a misleading air of distraction by a bone-chilling Samantha Morton.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 15 July 2026
  • What’s far more eloquent is the episode with the witch Circe (a terrific Samantha Morton), whose habit of tricking and transforming men into animals is rendered in evocatively physical, body-horror-esque imagery.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 July 2026
Definition of witch
Noun
  • Every person who is an adult but not yet elderly needs a crone in their lives.
    — Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 18 June 2026
  • In the next, he is pursued by a demon crone known in local legend as the Sea Hag.
    — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 18 June 2026
Definition of crone

Browse Nearby Words

hafts
hag
haggard
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hag.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hag. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on hag

Nglish: Translation of hag for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about hag

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All