heartbreaking

adjective

heart·​break·​ing ˈhärt-ˌbrā-kiŋ 

1

: causing intense sorrow or distress

heartbreaking news

a heartbreaking defeat

2

: producing an intense emotional reaction or response

heartbreaking beauty

heartbreakingly

ˈhärt-ˌbrā-kiŋ-lē 

adverb

a heartbreakingly tragic movie

Synonyms of heartbreaking

• sad
• depressing
• pathetic

Examples of heartbreaking in a Sentence

She wrote a heartbreaking story about the death of her grandfather.

It was heartbreaking to know that there was nothing I could do.

The team suffered another heartbreaking defeat.

Recent Examples on the Web

Ten years after their heartbreaking split, they are reunited when Percy returns to Barry's Bay to attend the funeral of Sam's mother. —Angeline Jane Bernabe, ABC News, 10 June 2026

Those scenes were just so heartbreaking. —Antonia Blyth, Deadline, 10 June 2026

The couple's eldest son, Jake, reflected on his parents' death and his brother's apparent role in a heartbreaking essay shared on his Substack in April of this year. —Meg Walters, InStyle, 9 June 2026

Tatiana, an environmental journalist and author, penned a heartbreaking essay for The New Yorker last year that disclosed her fatal disease and reflected on generations of tragedies within the extended Kennedy family. —Juliet Pennington, PEOPLE, 9 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1591, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for heartbreaking

• awaking
• backbreaking
• bookmaking
• breathtaking
• brickmaking
• caretaking
• dressmaking
• filmmaking
• forsaking
• glassmaking
• groundbreaking
• haymaking