harrowing
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of harrowing
Explanation
Being attacked by a hungry shark or being chased by an unruly mob on the streets can be described as harrowing, which means "provoking feelings of fear or horror." The adjective harrowing is often used to describe a firsthand experience that is terrifying, such as a harrowing drive home in icy weather, but it can also refer to a secondhand experience, such as reading or watching something that is very frightening or disturbing. If you read someone’s account of being shipwrecked in Antarctica, you might describe that as a harrowing story. A harrowing experience typically unfolds over a period of time. For example, if you bump into a shark while swimming, that’s merely scary. If the shark attacks you, then it becomes a harrowing ordeal.
Vocabulary lists containing harrowing
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Grade 9, List 5
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The Catcher in the Rye
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Witnesses described chaotic and harrowing scenes, including intense smoke and broken glass, a slow response from emergency services and guards reportedly preventing them from leaving the building.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Shakur’s first chart hit was a harrowing tale of teen pregnancy based on a story he read in the New York Daily News.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
“I don’t push people to be part of my films, but they reached out to us personally with harrowing stories of what was happening inside of Boeing,” Kennedy says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
She described it as "just a very, very harrowing experience".
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
At Camp Jupiter, Percy had recounted their trip to Alaska, which sounded as harrowing as anything Piper had experienced.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
