Word of the Day

: February 22, 2024

haggard

adjective HAG-urd

What It Means

Someone described as haggard appears tired or thin especially as if because of hunger, worry, or pain. Haggard can also describe someone who looks wild or otherwise disheveled.

// After a disastrous rafting trip, Robin emerged from the woods looking haggard but otherwise unscathed.

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haggard in Context

“All three leads are excellent, but it’s especially worth noting the complexity of what DiCaprio pulls off. Initially, Ernest seems a fairly standard character type, the cocky, dim-bulb guy of disposable moral fiber, easily influenced by someone much smarter. But he becomes more interesting as the anguish caused by his love for Mollie eats away at him, with the actor looking discernibly more haggard as Hale’s plot advances and he's unable to extricate himself from it.” — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 May 2023

Did You Know?

Haggard has its origins in falconry, the ancient sport of hunting with a trained bird of prey. The birds used in falconry were not bred in captivity until very recently; traditionally, falconers trained wild birds that were either taken from the nest when quite young or trapped as adults. A bird trapped as an adult is termed a haggard, from the synonymous Middle French word hagard. Such a bird being notoriously wild and difficult to train, haggard was easily extended to apply to a “wild” and intractable person. Eventually, the word came to express the way the human face looks when a person is exhausted, anxious, or terrified. Today, the most common meaning of haggard is “gaunt” or “worn.”