Tormented or exhausted as if by a hag or nightmare; plagued by nightmares or worried thoughts.
Past participle of 'hagride,' combining 'hag' + 'ridden' (like 'driven'), from folklore beliefs that witches rode on sleeping people causing nightmares.
Medieval people literally believed hags sat on sleepers' chests causing nightmares—this belief was so widespread it created a medical concept for sleep paralysis, a phenomenon we now understand neurologically.
From 'hag' + 'ridden,' conflates witchcraft with female malevolence. Medieval/early modern witch hunts projected misogyny onto this imagery, linking elderly or marginal women to supernatural harm and nightmares.
Use 'tormented,' 'beleaguered,' or 'oppressed' instead. Avoid gendered supernatural framing when describing affliction.
["tormented","beleaguered","haunted","oppressed"]
Countless women executed in witch hunts were healers, midwives, and knowledge-keepers whose power threatened patriarchal order. Reclaim their actual contributions rather than mythologized malevolence.
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