hag-ridden

9.9

Being troubled by bad dreams and strong fears

adjective
/ˈhæɡˌrɪdən/

Archaic

: atormentado

She was hag-ridden during her exams, unable to shake off the fears of failing.

Examples

Hag-ridden, I could neither sleep nor eat.

Fiction book (1994)
The children were hag-ridden by nightmares after watching a scary movie.
After weeks of stress, I felt hag-ridden by my constant worries about the future.

Synonyms

hagridden

vshag-ridden

Archaic

9.9

Troubled by bad dreams and strong, unreasonable fears

has identical meaning but is written with a hyphen

demon-ridden

vshag-ridden

Literature

9.9

Seeming to be controlled and troubled by evil spirits

focuses on internal nightmares and fears rather than external possession

devil-ridden

vshag-ridden

Literature

9.9

Filled with evil spirits that control or trouble people

describes inner torment from nightmares and anxieties not external control

Antonyms

calm

52 1.0

A quiet, peaceful feeling that helps you stay steady

comforted

1 2.1

Feeling less upset because someone is kind to you

How Troubled

tormented

NSFW

7.0

hag-ridden

Archaic

9.9

haunted

8 5.1

troubled

133 3.5

uneasy

98 3.2

Surface Forms

hag-ridden positive

Morphology

hag-ridden = hag + ridden (semi-transparent) = hag + ride + en

The form is clearly built from 'hag' plus 'ridden', but the sense of being tormented by fears is metaphorical rather than fully literal.

Etymology

Hag-ridden comes from an old idea of a hag ('witch') 'riding' a person in their sleep, and ridden is related to ride, which means 'to sit on'. So, someone who is hag-ridden is troubled or tormented by bad dreams and fears.