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
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
What’s lost is the heat and swashbuckling adventure of the original tale, a humanist turn that finds Odysseus at the end of his mortal coil, Fiennes at first haggard, awash naked on the shores of Ithaca after a shipwreck has left him unmoored and divorced from his former kingdom.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 6 Dec. 2024
Ralph Fiennes’ Odysseus, back from the Trojan War, washes up on the shores of Ithaca after 20 years away, haggard and unrecognizable.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 6 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for haggard
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
What’s lost is the heat and swashbuckling adventure of the original tale, a humanist turn that finds Odysseus at the end of his mortal coil, Fiennes at first haggard, awash naked on the shores of Ithaca after a shipwreck has left him unmoored and divorced from his former kingdom.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 6 Dec. 2024
Ralph Fiennes’ Odysseus, back from the Trojan War, washes up on the shores of Ithaca after 20 years away, haggard and unrecognizable.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 6 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for haggard
Recent Examples of Synonyms for haggard
Adjective
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In addition to a very gaunt appearance, other symptoms include: Extreme weakness Thin, dry skin with excess skin folds due to loss of fat Sparse, brittle hair that can be easily plucked out 8.—
Jonathan Purtell,
Verywell Health,
13 June 2025
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Recent photos of Bieber out and about show him looking gaunt and disappearing into his clothes.—
Shirley Halperin,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Nearly six months later her skeletal remains were discovered during the excavation of massive debris piles inside her single-family home in Glastonbury.—
Jessica Schladebeck,
New York Daily News,
19 June 2025
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The recruitment camp designed to grow the cartel’s numbers, known as Izaguirre ranch, contained numerous pieces of clothing, shoes, bags, and skeletal remains.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
18 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Haggard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/haggard. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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