Hagard

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. Having a thin, hollow-cheeked appearance that suggests exhaustion, suffering, or deep worry
2. Looking wasted and worn down, with a face marked by deep lines and sunken features
3. Appearing emaciated or careworn, displaying visible signs of fatigue, hardship, or emotional strain

Etymology: Falconers used this word for a hawk caught as an adult in the wild. Such a bird had already learned to hunt for itself and was notoriously hard to tame, so it was valued less than a young hawk raised from the nest. The Old French "hagard" carried the sense of untamed wildness, and English took it over in the Middle Ages with the same meaning. The sense then moved from the bird to the people who handled it. A creature that resists taming looks restless and worn, and "haggard" came to describe human faces that looked wild or wasted, especially from hunger, grief or lack of sleep. Its modern meaning, gaunt and exhausted, is the hawk's untamed quality transferred to a person's appearance.