hag-riddenadj.
/ˈhaɡˌrɪdn/, U.S. /ˈhæɡˌrɪd(ə)n/ 1. Tormented by a malicious spirit while asleep; troubled or characterized by nightmares. Cf. hag n.1 5.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of being eerie > [adjective] > afflicted by nightmare
witch-ridden1621
hag-ridden1654
hag-rid1691
1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot iii. ii. 75 But old drowsie pate slept very soundly, except that now and then he groan'd extreamly, being hag-ridden by the Asturians incumbency.
1758 W. Battie Treat. Madness vii. 49 Thus the glutton..is hagridden in his sleep.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus ii. iii. 41/2 In this hag-ridden dream.
2012 P. Finch Dark North (e-book ed.) Her calm assurance during his long, feverish, hag-ridden nights.
2. Harassed; troubled, tormented. Often with by.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > [adjective] > as by an evil spirit
obsessed1531
witch-ridden1621
hag-ridden1685
hag-rid1691
nightmared1839
1685 Mischief of Cabals 4 What, are we gone back again to Forty One, to be thus hag-ridden a second time?
1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi iii. ii. xxviii. 159/1 He did not allow himself to be Hag-ridden with the Enchantments thereof.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. 85 So completely hag-ridden by the fear of being influenced by selfish motives.
1891 Spectator 4 Apr. 471/1 Our minds are jaded and hag-ridden, as it were, by the physical fatalities of modern science.
1993 Vanity Fair Nov. 44/2 You have no reason to know why it once made parents and doctors hagridden.
2001 Mod. Railways Feb. 23/4 An industry hag-ridden by safety, fear of litigation and endemic backside-covering.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1654