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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.”
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“Haggard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Haggard. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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