Hag Meaning
/ˈhæɡ/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a female wizard.
nounAn ugly old woman.
Sentence Examples
An old hag of 50 years made me lustful propositions; she wanted to kiss me.
Hagåtña is the capital of Guam.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old woman with a crooked nose and warts was called a ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The old legend tells the story of an ugly sea ____ who lived in a cave and lured unsuspecting sailors to their doom.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English hagge, hegge (“demon, old woman”), shortening of Old English hægtesse, hægtes (“harpy, witch”), from Proto-West Germanic *hagatussjā. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Häkse (“witch”), Dutch heks, German Hexe (“witch”). Doublet of hex.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And that olde hag that with a staffe his staggering lymbes dooth stay"
— 1565, Arthur Golding (tr.), The Fyrst Fower Bookes of P. Ouidius Nasos worke intitled Metamorphosis, London: William Seres, The Fovrthe Booke:
"Such unaccountable masses of shades and shadows, that at first you almost thought some ambitious young artist, in the time of the New England hags, had endeavored to delineate chaos bewitched."
— 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 11:
"The elder women were literally "old hags" - lean and shrivelled, and excessively ugly."
— 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 67:
"I don't plan to stop drinking. But... I don't wanna forget. I can't turn away anymore. So, if I'm gonna die, well, it might as well be driving my sword through the heart of that murderous hag."
— 2017, Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Ragnarok, spoken by Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson):
"Fourth of the cursed knot of hags is she / Or rather all the other three in one; / Hell's shop of slaughter she does oversee, / And still assist the execution"
— 1646, Richard Crashaw, “Sospetto D' Herode”, in Steps to the Temple, stanza 37:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old woman with a crooked nose and warts was called a ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The old legend tells the story of an ugly sea ____ who lived in a cave and lured unsuspecting sailors to their doom.