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

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

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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 That lady is really the aforementioned murderous hag (Meredith Binder), her false veneer of youthful beauty reinforced by a magic mirror’s flattering (if also caustic) topless female spirits, and sustained via grisly methods seemingly inspired by Elizabeth Bathory. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 2 May 2025 Several get small charts offering ideas to inspire how the monster could be used, such as what strange price a hag might have for its secrets or what an owlbear might keep in its den beyond treasure. Rob Wieland, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025 This is indicative of someone who puts men at the center of their universe, viewing other women as either competition or jealous hags. Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2025 Several get small charts offering ideas to inspire how the monster could be used, such as what strange price a hag might have for its secrets or what an owlbear might keep in its den beyond treasure. Rob Wieland, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025 The film treats Ryder’s Beth as the evil hag witch who the virginal hard worker Nina has to beat to achieve her dreams, and Ryder plays that role with relish and gusto. Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2024 Oh, and Jen is also there, dressed as the hag form of the Evil Queen from Snow White. Katie Campione, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2024 Goth did double duty in X, playing both Maxine, the adult-film director’s girlfriend and star, and homicidal hag Pearl. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 June 2024 Its narrator was Constance Garnett, the real-life translator of Russian classics, reimagined as a senile, spotlight-stealing hag. Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hag
Noun
  • Local truffles are also on sale, not pungent but neither pricey and historically called devil’s mushroom by those who considered them as food for witches.
    Tom Mullen, Forbes.com, 11 May 2025
  • The original 1998 movie, which was directed by Griffin Dunne and grossed more than $47 million stateside, followed two witch sisters, raised by their eccentric aunts in a small town, who are faced with closed-minded prejudice and a curse that threatens to prevent them from finding lasting love.
    Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 6 May 2025
Noun
  • Though the character is traditionally played as a cackling crone, she'll be glammed-up for Wednesday.
    Randall Colburn, EW.com, 23 Apr. 2025
  • None of these books exactly celebrate the status of the crone; all offer midlife beauty-maintenance tips.
    Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • The researchers went through hundreds of rodent and shrew carcasses to look for mpox infections and found one: the carcass of a squirrel that had died less than three months before the outbreak started.
    Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2025
  • While native mammals span from the endemic Cretan lesser white-toothed shrew to the Blasius’s horseshoe bat, the preserve is perhaps best known for its high concentration of Cretan goats, a type of ruminant that serves as the official mascot of the park.
    Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Hag.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hag. Accessed 25 May. 2025.

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