To torment or trouble someone, as if by a hag or nightmare; to cause exhaustion or worry.
From 'hag' + 'ride,' where 'ride' means to sit on or burden (as in 'ride someone hard'), rooted in folklore belief that witches rode on sleeping victims.
The phrase 'hagridden' used to describe a exhausted person perfectly captures folklore explanation for insomnia and nightmares before psychology explained them—witches were medieval psychology.
Verb form of 'hag-ride,' originating in superstition about malevolent female spirits oppressing sleepers. Reinforces historical conflation of female power with supernatural threat and male victimhood.
Use 'torment,' 'plague,' or 'afflict' instead. Avoid gendered supernatural framing for non-literal uses.
["torment","plague","afflict","burden"]
The 'hag-ride' myth erased women's actual agency by projecting male anxiety onto female bodies. Healers and herbalists—many persecuted—had real knowledge that threatened male medical monopolies.
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