heartbreaking

heart·break·ing

adj \-ˌbrā-kiŋ\

Definition of HEARTBREAKING

1

a : causing intense sorrow or distress b : extremely trying or difficult

2

: producing an intense emotional reaction or response <heartbreaking beauty>

— heart·break·ing·ly \-kiŋ-lē\ adverb

Examples of HEARTBREAKING

1. She wrote a heartbreaking story about the death of her grandfather.
2. It was heartbreaking to know that there was nothing I could do.
3. The team suffered another heartbreaking defeat.

First Known Use of HEARTBREAKING

1586

Related to HEARTBREAKING

Synonyms: depressing, dismal, drear, dreary, sad, heartrending, melancholy, mournful, pathetic, saddening, sorry, tearful, teary

Antonyms: cheering, cheery, glad, happy

Related Words: deplorable, distressful, grievous, lamentable, unfortunate, woeful; discomforting, discomposing, disquieting, distressing, disturbing, perturbing; affecting, moving, poignant, touching; discouraging, disheartening, dispiriting

Near Antonyms: heartening, heartwarming, inspiring, stimulating, stirring, uplifting; agreeable, delightful, enjoyable, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, satisfying, welcome; exhilarating, thrilling

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Rhymes with HEARTBREAKING

backbreaking, bookmaking, breathtaking, caretaking, dressmaking, earthshaking, filmmaking, glassmaking, groundbreaking, housebreaking, lawbreaking, lawmaking, leave-taking, lovemaking, mapmaking, matchmaking, mythmaking, noisemaking, pacemaking, painstaking, pathbreaking, peacemaking, phrasemaking, printmaking, snowmaking, stocktaking, strikebreaking, toolmaking, watchmaking, world-shaking