as in gaunt
suffering extreme weight loss as a result of hunger or disease
the rescued hiker appeared haggard and worn after a week in the woods
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Recent Examples of haggard
The scene makes Perkins crack up — Death looks tired and haggard, his job is never done (especially this week), and while the father-son may have escaped this round, their paths will cross in some unknowable way in the future.
—
Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 21 Feb. 2025
There’s a slight Francis Bacon aspect to them, poetic but at the same time incontrovertibly real, depicting every distorted limb, every haggard face and emaciated body, every wound and scar.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2025
Nobody could have given this song so much haggard soul.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2025
His cheeks were hollow, and a grizzled beard, which hadn’t seen a proper shave in weeks, made his face look older and all the more haggard.
—Lee Chang-Dong, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for haggard
Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 21 Feb. 2025
There’s a slight Francis Bacon aspect to them, poetic but at the same time incontrovertibly real, depicting every distorted limb, every haggard face and emaciated body, every wound and scar.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2025
Nobody could have given this song so much haggard soul.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2025
His cheeks were hollow, and a grizzled beard, which hadn’t seen a proper shave in weeks, made his face look older and all the more haggard.
—Lee Chang-Dong, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for haggard
Recent Examples of Synonyms for haggard
Adjective
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Regina was standing by the window now, looking even more gaunt under the artificial light of the bulb behind her and the faint glow of the sunrise in front, which barely managed to filter through the balcony awning.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
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Thanks in part to Ozempic, thin is back in, with once-plus-size celebrities sporting svelter physiques, and some already-slim stars now verging on gaunt.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Later archeological research, including forensic examination of skeletal remains, has turned up no evidence for cannibalism or for a particularly bellicose society on Rapa Nui.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
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The oldest trace of syphilis For this research, scientists recovered the genome of the bacterium Treponema pallidum from the skeletal remains of an ancient hunter-gatherer buried in a rock shelter in Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Haggard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/haggard. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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