English

Adjective

haggard ‎(comparative more haggard, superlative most haggard)

1. Looking exhausted, worried, or poor in condition
   • Dryden

     Staring his eyes, and haggard was his look.

   Pale and haggard faces.

   A gradual descent into a haggard and feeble state.

   The years of hardship made her look somewhat haggard.

2. Wild or untamed

   a haggard or refractory hawk

Derived terms

• haggardly
• haggardness

Translations

Noun

haggard ‎(plural haggards)

1. (dialect, Isle of Man, Ireland) A stackyard, an enclosure on a farm for stacking grain, hay, etc.

   "He tuk a slew [swerve] round the haggard"

2. (falconry) A hunting bird captured as an adult.

   A "haggard" is a bird captured as an adult and therefore of unknown age; often, the law prohibits capturing birds of mating age. Falconry Pro

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3 Scene 1

     No, truly, Ursula, she is too disdainful;

     I know her spirits are as coy and wild

     As haggards of the rock.

3. (falconry) A young or untrained hawk or falcon.
4. (obsolete) A fierce, intractable creature.
   • Shakespeare

     I have loved this proud disdainful haggard.

5. (obsolete) A hag.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Garth to this entry?)

References

1. ↑ “haggard” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
2. ↑ Le Robert pour tous, Dictionnaire de la langue française, Janvier 2004, p. 547, haie