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.
Grant survived the harrowing events when the creatures get loose, but didn’t return for “The Lost World: Jurassic Park II” in 1997.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Their position near eye level gives these scenes an unusual immediacy, drawing us inescapably into these harrowing spectacles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Juan Cordero asks a group of Venezuelan children left homeless following last week's harrowing earthquakes.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Each chapter ventures a little deeper into Anxietyland, where the harrowing attractions include the Emotional Rollercoaster, the Worry-Go-Round, the Magical Thinking Show and Hangxiety Falls.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
In Theodore’s words, they were all “very much irritated by the harrowing experience.”
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
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.
