heartbreaking
Deeply painfully sad
Heartbreaking describes something that causes intense emotional pain or grief.
A heartbreaking story moves you to tears; heartbreaking news delivers devastating information.
The word applies to situations that evoke deep sympathy or sorrow: It was heartbreaking to watch her say goodbye.
Unlike merely sad, heartbreaking suggests something that pierces you emotionally.
Deep emotional distress
- mourningPeriod following loss
- bereavementState following loss
- lamentationPassionate expression of grief
- lossBeing without something
tears · grieving · heartache · woe · misery · despair · desolation · emptiness
Causing great sorrow
- devastatingCausing severe damage
- catastrophicCausing complete destruction
- ruinousCausing severe destruction
- calamitousCausing great damage
disaster · loss · death · suffering · injustice · senseless · unfair · untimely
Wistful yet warm
- wistfulSadly longing for something
- nostalgicLonging for the past
- touchingEvoking gentle emotion
- movingEmotionally affecting
tender · melancholy · yearning · evocative · sentimental · affecting · emotional · plaintive
Breaking of trust
- rejectionDenial of acceptance
- unrequitedNot returned in kind
- separationState of being apart
- divorceLegal end of matrimony
longing · abandoned · jilted · forsaken · spurned · infidelity · farewell · goodbye
Causing intense emotional anguish
- agonizingIntensely painful or distressing
- painfulCausing hurt or ache
- tormentSevere prolonged suffering
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
harrowing · upsetting · disturbing · wrenching · crushing · unbearable · excruciating · tormenting
sorrow
Deep emotional distress
- mourningPeriod following loss
- bereavementState following loss
- lamentationPassionate expression of grief
loss · tears · grieving · heartache · woe · misery · despair · desolation · emptiness · loneliness
tragic
Causing great sorrow
- devastatingCausing severe damage
- catastrophicCausing complete destruction
- ruinousCausing severe destruction
calamitous · disaster · loss · death · suffering · injustice · senseless · unfair · untimely · needless
bittersweet
Wistful yet warm
moving · tender · melancholy · yearning · evocative · sentimental · affecting · emotional · plaintive · mournful
betrayal
Breaking of trust
- rejectionDenial of acceptance
- unrequitedNot returned in kind
- separationState of being apart
divorce · longing · abandoned · jilted · forsaken · spurned · infidelity · farewell · goodbye · parting
gut-wrenching
Causing intense emotional anguish
- agonizingIntensely painful or distressing
- painfulCausing hurt or ache
- tormentSevere prolonged suffering
suffering · harrowing · upsetting · disturbing · wrenching · crushing · unbearable · excruciating · tormenting · piercing
- emotional reactionsinspiring, moving, touching, heartwarming, chilling
- sombergloomy, bleak, dreary, dismal, melancholy
- promiscuitypromiscuity, sleeping around, casual sex, hookups, one-night stands
- dramatic tonesintense, tense, suspenseful, ominous, foreboding
- exhaustingdraining, taxing, tiring, exhausting, fatiguing
- lamentslamentation, wailing, keen, keening, lament
heartbreakingheartwarming
Evoking tender positive feelings
uplifting · heartening · joyous · joyful · delightful