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harrowing

harrowing

27 8.2
Causing very strong fear or sadness
  • adjective
  • /ˈhɛrəʊɪŋ/
translation icon : desgarrador
  • After hearing the harrowing news about the accident, she could hardly contain her tears.
  • harrowing tales
  • harrowing experiences
  • the most harrowing

And you know, there it was pretty harrowing, pretty scary.

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Examples

  • Others came to America in different and often harrowing conditions.

  • I've just been to a very harrowing meeting with families affected.

  • Well, I think that, you know, we have been through some harrowing times in the last years.

  • That was a particularly harrowing memory.

  • Honestly, it's so harrowing and sad.

  • There, in that harrowing place, was the absolute absence of care.

  • For any other man, this might have been a harrowing experience, but for me, it was nothing short of rapture.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Each of the people from Kanchehun that we spoke with had his or her own harrowing tale of loss and of survival.

  • Mission sources and administrative correspondence routinely provided harrowing descriptions of suffering.

    Academic text (2001)
  • She's quite all right, but she evidently had a harrowing experience on her walk this morning.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

horrific
vsharrowing
179 5.5

Causing great fear or shock

focuses more on sorrowful anxiety rather than frightening shock
traumatic
vsharrowing
154 6.3

Causing deep emotional pain and lasting fear after a very bad event

focuses more on acute anxiety and sorrow than clinical harm
troubling
vsharrowing
154 4.0

Causing worry or distress

is much more intense, causing severe distress or pain
dreadful
vsharrowing
136 3.7

Very bad and unpleasant, often causing fear or shock

is more specifically about causing extreme distress and sorrow
heartbreaking
vsharrowing
92 3.7

Causing someone to feel very sad and upset

is broader, covering great anxiety as well as sorrow
horrendous
vsharrowing
82 7.0

Very shocking and scary, causing fear or disgust

is more about causing deep sorrow and anxiety than shock
excruciating
vsharrowing
46 7.9

Causing very strong physical or mental pain

is similar but places more weight on emotional sorrow and anxiety
distressing
vsharrowing
  • Specialized
36 4.6

Causing strong worry and emotional pain

is stronger, causing extreme anxiety or deep sorrow
torturous
vsharrowing
  • Offensive
16 8.4

Causing very strong pain to the body or mind

stresses emotional distress and deep sorrow more than physical pain
gut-wrenching
vsharrowing
15 7.4

That makes you feel very sad and upset

is similar but emphasizes extreme anxiety rather than only anguish
frightful
vsharrowing
7 4.2

Very bad or unpleasant in a strong way

is sharper, causing intense sorrow or strong anxiety
agonizing
vsharrowing
  • US
7 5.9

Causing very strong physical or emotional pain

leans more toward emotional anguish and anxiety rather than pure pain
hellacious
vsharrowing
  • Informal
3 9.0

Very bad or difficult and hard to deal with

is more narrowly about causing deep emotional pain and distress
torturesome
vsharrowing
  • Offensive
9.9

Causing very strong physical or mental pain

highlights emotional anguish and anxiety rather than mostly physical harm

Antonyms

314 1.0

Giving a gentle feeling of enjoyment

134 1.4

Making someone feel less worried or upset

How Distressing

traumatic
154 6.3
harrowing
27 8.2
disturbing
304 4.2
unsettling
64 4.2

Surface Forms

harrowing positive
harrowinger comparative
harrowingest superlative

Morphology

harrowing = harrow (transparent) = harrow + ing

Formed as the present-participial/adjectival '-ing' derivative of the verb 'harrow', so the meaning 'causing great distress' is directly derived from the base verb.

Etymology

The word harrowing comes from the farm tool harrow, which drags across fields and 'breaks up the ground'. People began to use harrow as a verb meaning 'to cause pain', so something harrowing is like an experience that 'tears you up' inside and is very distressing.