Synonyms for heart-rending
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Heart-breaking — that causes great grief, anguish or distress
2. Sorrowful
sorrowful, grievous, piteous, distressing, lamentable, regrettable, deplorable, moving, mournful, saddening, depressing, rueful, wretched, pitiful, woeful
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
That causes great grief, anguish or distress.
Near-synonyms: heartbreaking, heartwrenching
- adj. 2
That elicits deep sympathy.
I am suddenly assaulted by the most heartrending puppy-dog eyes I've ever seen as Emi pouts.
Related words
- Other spellings
- heartrending
Example sentences
- distressing Yanni went through a distressing event.
- piteous He looked piteous, like a drowned mouse.
By length
- 6 letters
- moving2, woeful2, rueful2
- 7 letters
- pitiful3, piteous
- 8 letters
- wretched2, grievous2, mournful2
- 9 letters
- sorrowful3, saddening3
- 10 letters
- depressing3, deplorable4, lamentable4
- 11 letters
- distressing3, regrettable4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (moving2 = 2 syllables).