heart-wrenching
Deeply painfully moving
Heart-wrenching describes something that causes intense emotional anguish or sorrow: a heart-wrenching documentary about famine, the heart-wrenching cries of a mother who lost her child.
The image is of grief so powerful it twists or tears at the heart.
Often interchangeable with heartbreaking, though heart-wrenching emphasizes the visceral, physical sensation of emotional pain.
Causing intense emotional anguish
- heartbreakingCausing intense emotional anguish
- devastatingCausing severe damage
- overwhelmingIntensely excessive in force
- agonizingIntensely painful or distressing
harrowing · shattering · piercing · affecting · stirring · wrenching · excruciating · unbearable
Period following loss
- bereavementState following loss
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- lossBeing without something
- tearsViolent pulls apart
grieving · sadness · lamentation · woe · melancholy · anguish · despair · emptiness
Emotionally manipulative entertainment
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
- melodramaSensational, emotionally overwrought drama
- pathosPity-evoking quality
- bittersweetWistful yet warm
poignant · emotional · sentimental · elegiac · mournful · sorrowful · tale · story
Causing anguish or worry
- painfulCausing hurt or ache
- traumaticCausing severe emotional damage
- scarringPermanent mark formation
- horrifyingCausing extreme fear
nightmare · devastating · torment · suffering · violation · abuse · wounds · agony
Evoking gentle emotion
- tenderSoft or sore
- compassionateShowing concern for sufferers
- empatheticFeeling what others feel
- sympatheticFeeling others' emotions
caring · sensitive · gentle · consoling · comforting · vulnerable · intimate · sincere
gut-wrenching
Causing intense emotional anguish
- heartbreakingCausing intense emotional anguish
- devastatingCausing severe damage
- overwhelmingIntensely excessive in force
agonizing · harrowing · shattering · piercing · affecting · stirring · wrenching · excruciating · unbearable · crushing
mourning
Period following loss
- bereavementState following loss
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- lossBeing without something
tears · grieving · sadness · lamentation · woe · melancholy · anguish · despair · emptiness · longing
tearjerker
Emotionally manipulative entertainment
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
- melodramaSensational, emotionally overwrought drama
- pathosPity-evoking quality
bittersweet · poignant · emotional · sentimental · elegiac · mournful · sorrowful · tale · story · film
distressing
Causing anguish or worry
horrifying · nightmare · devastating · torment · suffering · violation · abuse · wounds · agony · catastrophe
touching
Evoking gentle emotion
- tenderSoft or sore
- compassionateShowing concern for sufferers
- empatheticFeeling what others feel
sympathetic · caring · sensitive · gentle · consoling · comforting · vulnerable · intimate · sincere · heartfelt
- overwhelmedstressed, overwhelmed, stressed out, burnt out, burned out
heart-wrenchingheartwarming
Evoking tender positive feelings
uplifting · joyous · heartening · feel-good · life-affirming
heart-wrenchingforgettable
Unlikely to be recalled
unemotional · bland · emotionless · flat · unremarkable
heart, wrench, hearty, hearts, heartache, heartbreak, hearten, wholehearted, disheartened