# Is there an equivalent term for a male hag? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988 "2003-04-02T16:42:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![moejuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@moejuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejuck)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/1 "2003-04-02T16:42:36Z")
One of my students asked me this one. Can’t find anything in the dictionary or on a search engine. I assume they are using the definition of “old lady” not the witch. Codger is the only thing that comes to my mind, but I don’t think it is gender specific. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/2 "2003-04-02T16:52:38Z")
Codger is a fairly good match. According to [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com), codger is gender specific: 3 entries found for Codger. codg·er ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kjr) n. Informal A somewhat eccentric man, especially an old one. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/3 "2003-04-02T16:53:21Z")
Geezer? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/4 "2003-04-02T16:55:18Z")
Probably not an exact equivalent. My dictonary says it’s from the Middle English _hagge_, in turn probably from the Old English _haegtesse_, witch. Tell 'em it’s “hog” and see what they say. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/5 "2003-04-02T17:11:35Z")
Etymologically, according to the OED, it’s related to “hex” and is an abbreviation from a much longer Teutonic root (\*hagutason-, or something like that). There seems to be no male equivalent for the old meaning. In modern usage, I’d say that “coot” or “geezer” come closest to describing in a man what we attribute when we say “hag”. ---
**Author:** ![PolskiKing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@PolskiKing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PolskiKing)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/6 "2003-04-02T17:34:04Z")
My male algebra teacher can be closely described as a “hag” -PK ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/7 "2003-04-02T17:37:56Z")
How about “Old Fart”? ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/8 "2003-04-02T17:57:28Z")
Dunno if this is used much in the US, but we in the UK call them Gits. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/9 "2003-04-02T18:24:05Z")
Old Fart was the first thing that occurred to me. ---
**Author:** ![jesseboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/90ced4/32.png) [@jesseboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesseboy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/10 "2003-04-02T21:34:46Z")
what about ‘curmudgeon’. It is not a word used all that often. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/11 "2003-04-02T21:45:03Z")
“Hag” as we think of it has a connotation of malevolence. Think actress Louise Emmons in the 1933 “Our Gang” short _Mush and Milk_. The terms already mentioned have connotations of eccentricity, but not malevolence. How about “beausieur?” Another word for “hag” is “beldam.” This would be the masculine version.😃 ---
**Author:** ![moejuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@moejuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejuck)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/12 "2003-04-03T00:15:22Z")
thanks for your help, I am sure that my class will be impressed. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/13 "2003-04-03T03:59:47Z")
A male “bag lady” is a bagwan. Perhaps a gentleman hag is a hack. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/14 "2003-04-03T04:28:49Z")
“Nasty old Troll”? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/15 "2003-04-03T05:13:43Z")
i’m thinking ‘coot’ ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-equivalent-term-for-a-male-hag/165988/16 "2003-04-03T06:39:44Z")
I don’t know if there is a male equivalent. A “hag” is old, ugly, and mean. “Codger,” "geezer, “coot,” etc. don’t necessarily imply meanness. FWIW, my next door neighbor is a real life hag. I laughed for a whole day when I first realized that “hag” was just the right word for her. Hag hag hag. She’s a mean old hag! She’s not a toothless hag, though. She does have a tooth.