Etymology From Middle French haggard, from Old French faulcon hagard (“wild falcon”) ( > French hagard (“dazed”)), from Middle High German hag (“coppice”) ( > archaic German Hag (“hedge, grove”)). Akin to Frankish *hagia ( > French haie (“hedge”))
1
Looking exhausted, worried, or poor in condition
Pale and haggard faces.
A gradual descent into a haggard and feeble state.
4 more examples
The years of hardship made her look somewhat haggard.
Staring his eyes, and haggard was his look.1685, John Dryden, The Despairing Lover:
Then there was a pale, care-wrinkled woman, not old, but haggard, and already with streaks of gray among her hair, like silver ribbons; one of those women, naturally delicate, whom you at once recognize as worn to death by a brute—probably, a drunken brute—of a husband, and at least nine children.1851 April 9, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
I looked at the morning / After being up all night / I looked at my haggard face in the bathroom light / I looked out the window / And I saw that ragged soul take flight1976, Joni Mitchell, “Black Crow”, in Hejira:
Etymology From Middle French haggard, from Old French faulcon hagard (“wild falcon”) ( > French hagard (“dazed”)), from Middle High German hag (“coppice”) ( > archaic German Hag (“hedge, grove”)). Akin to Frankish *hagia ( > French haie (“hedge”))
1
Falconry, Hobbies, Hunting, Lifestyle A hunting bird captured as an adult.
No, truly, Ursula, she is too disdainful; I know her spirits are as coy and wild As haggards of the rock.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
1856, John Henry Walsh, Manual of British Rural Sports HAGGARDS may be trapped in this country but with the square-net, or the bow-net, but in either case great difficulty is experienced
2
Falconry, Hobbies, Hunting, Lifestyle A young or untrained hawk or falcon.
I have loved this proud disdainful haggard.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]: