heartrending
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heartrending
First recorded in 1680–90; heart + rending ( def. )
Explanation
Something heartrending is heartbreaking: it causes grief and sadness. The heart is the organ associated with emotions, and to rend something is to tear it, so heartrending things tear up your heart: not literally, but because they make you sad. The death of a friend or loved one is heartrending. Getting a terrible disease like cancer is heartrending. A tragic story can be heartrending if it makes you feel for the people involved. Anything that makes you cry is probably heartrending.
Vocabulary lists containing heartrending
A Lesson Before Dying
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The Wind in the Willows
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Echo
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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.
Maximize the heartening and heartrending, and you’ll stand to maximize the viewer’s compassion, too.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it "absolutely heartrending" and Kohli said he was "at a loss for words" after the tragedy.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2025
Pensive, melodic, uplifting, and heartrending – it's his best album yet.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2025
She delicately balances steeliness and vulnerability to deliver a heartrending performance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2024
The conductor lifts his baton, and I'm invigorated hearing the familiar passages: the drone of the double bass as the heartrending introduction begins, the strings peeling away layers like birch bark.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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.
