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When you hear the word haggard, you might think of Merle Haggard, the musician. That's a handy connection because he lived a troubled, drug-addled life, and the word haggard describes people who look exhausted, like they've worked and suffered for a very long time.

Here's Merle Haggard showing us his haggard side:

"I been a workin' man dang near all my life.
I'll be working long as my two hands are fit to use.
I'll drink my beer in a tavern,
Sing a little bit of these working man blues."

And:

"Hurtin' me now don't mean a thing.
Since lovin' you, don't feel no pain.
My mind ain't nothin' but a total blank.
I think I'll just stay here and drink."

That man went through a lot.

The connection between his surname and the adjective, haggard, may be slightly more than a coincidence. The surname Haggard may trace back to a French word meaning "wilderness, or hawk yard," closely related to the French haggard that we took into English to first mean "wild, untamed."

But that connection is iffy. See if you can recall a couple of terms that connect much more straightforwardly back to people's surnames:

1. To fle_____ize food is to chew it for so long that it turns into liquid, a term from the last name of a health food nut. Seriously, he was cuckoo.

2. Kn___ing is the neat and tidy arrangement of many items all on one surface, often at 90 degree angles to each other, a term from the last name of a furniture designer who embraced right angles and orderliness.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)    

We took the word "haggard" straight from French, where it means "wild or untamed" and first described falcons that were difficult to tame because they'd been captured as adults from the wild. Over time, in English, the meaning of "haggard" may have been influenced by our word "hag," meaning "an ugly old woman, especially in folklore."

And so today, if you describe someone as haggard, you mean they look wild, too thin, or exhausted, as if they've been suffering or working very hard for a very long time.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "His eyes were haggard and bloodshot;" "She burst into the room, haggard and wild-haired."

Other forms: 

Haggardly, haggardness.

how to use it:

Pick the serious, semi-common, somewhat literary word "haggard" when you want to emphasize the lengthy pain or suffering evinced by someone's untidy appearance.

You might talk about someone's haggard face, eyes, hair, hands, body, or voice.

examples:

"He looked worn and tired, battered by battle and haggard from strain."
— George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones, 1996

"I never knew what time he went to bed, though his tired, stooped body and his haggard face made it clear that he was sleeping very little."
— Chaim Potok, The Chosen, 1967

has this page helped you understand "haggard"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "haggard" without saying "careworn" or "long-suffering."

try it out:

In Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," the title character is haggard:

"He was dressed like a ragpicker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away any sense of grandeur he might have had."

We imagine he's so haggard because he was already very old when he was caught in a windstorm, then dumped onto land.

With this character in mind as an example, talk about another haggard character from a story, a book, a show, or a movie. Why is that character so haggard? What have they been through?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

This month, our game is "Sarah In Dip a Day!"

I'll give you some song lyrics that contain a sophisticated word or phrase—but I'll swap it out for what you might hear if you didn't know that word or phrase. 

Your job is to find the spot where the lyrics quit making sense, then reinterpret those words as the artist actually wrote them. 

Here's an example:

"I'm on a one-way street,
My fall from grace complete,
But I feel that there's a hazard hanging over me.
But I take away the feeling that I can't see,
And now you say to me
Sarah in dip a day."
—Amaranthe

Here, the meaning breaks down at "Sarah in dip a day," which should read "Serendipity."

Try this one today:

"Every single night, 
I endure the flight
Of little wings of white-flamed 
Butterflies in my brain.
These ideas of mine 
Burger late the mind,
Trickle down the spine, 
Swarm the belly, 
Swelling to a blaze."
—Fiona Apple

If you need some clues, highlight the hidden white text below.
   1. The part that needs to be changed is..."Burger late"
   2. The term that's being sung means..."gradually spread all throughout "
To see the answer, scroll all the way down!

review this word:

1. A near opposite of HAGGARD is

A. FRESH-FACED.
B. QUICK-WITTED.
C. DISGRUNTLED.

2. In The Secret History, Donna Tartt describes a "haggard" character as "_____."

A. nervous and clench-jawed
B. wild-eyed and... rumpled
C. cold... with eyes wide open

Answers to the review questions: 1. A 2. B Answer to the game question: "Every single night,  I endure the flight Of little wings of white-flamed  Butterflies in my brain. These ideas of mine  Percolate the mind, Trickle down the spine,  Swarm the belly,  Swelling to a blaze." —Fiona Apple

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.