heartrending

[ hahrt-ren-ding ]

adjective

1. causing or expressing intense grief, anguish, or distress.

Other Words From

• heartrending·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of heartrending¹

First recorded in 1680–90; heart + rending ( def )

Example Sentences

Convinced that it had to be a physical disorder, she wrote to doctors and, in heartrending precision, appealed to them for diagnosis and treatment, which of course they could not provide.

From Time

The most heartrending threat to the seeds was the citizens of Leningrad themselves.

From Nautilus

In Oxyana, the performances he summons from his interview subjects are truly heartrending.

From The Daily Beast

Clearly, the voters were rewarding his heartrending performance of “ I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

From The Daily Beast

At the Eichmann trial, concentration camp survivors supplied heartrending testimony.

From The Daily Beast

As she twisted his great red ear, the agonized cries of Johnny became heartrending.

From Project Gutenberg

The unfortunate sufferers presented a heartrending picture, worthy of the painter of the Deluge.

From Project Gutenberg

She spent days in worshipping the small divinity of his person, and in the contemplation of his heartrending human attributes.

From Project Gutenberg

This was really heartrending when the difference in fare for three persons would be at least twenty dollars.

From Project Gutenberg

I saw none of those heartrending tragic scenes of parting, none of the wild grief that grows so much wilder for being indulged.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• agonizing
• distressing
• excruciating
• harrowing
• heart-wrenching
• heartbreaking
• sad
• touching
• tragic