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.
What Uwe Boll thinks this movie is: Heartrending tale of enduring humanity in the face of unspeakable horrors.
From The Guardian • Oct. 28, 2016
Heartrending is the sorrow with which he struggles to free himself from the bride chosen for him.
From The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 12 by Various
Heartrending was the leave-taking between Loysik and both the inhabitants of the colony and the members of the community.
From The Branding Needle, or The Monastery of Charolles A Tale of the First Communal Charter by Sue, Eugène
Heartrending were the wailings and shrieks and moanings which arose at this announcement, confirmed by the viewer and overmen.
From The Mines and its Wonders by Kingston, William Henry Giles
Heartrending scenes are witnessed in front of the closed doors of the various banking establishments, where large posters are to be seen, bearing the inscription: Closed temporarily, by order of the Government.
From The New York Times Current History, A Monthly Magazine The European War, March 1915 by Various
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.
