as in gruesome
informal
causing great mental or emotional pain
gut-wrenching decisions the novel's gut-wrenching opening scene
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gut-wrenching
Here are four of our favorite lessons from Fleetwood’s journey to victory:
Never fear failure
All of Fleetwood’s frustrating losses happened in the public eye, sometimes in gut-wrenching fashion.
—
Elise Devlin, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2025
Being intubated myself while having to make this decision was gut-wrenching.
—Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Aug. 2025
An increasing number of deaths due to malnutrition have also been reported and gut-wrenching images have emerged of suffering children and long food lines.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 22 Aug. 2025
Charlotte Lawrence loves a good, gut-wrenching, sad song.
—Leah Lu, Rolling Stone, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gut-wrenching
Elise Devlin, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2025
Being intubated myself while having to make this decision was gut-wrenching.
—Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Aug. 2025
An increasing number of deaths due to malnutrition have also been reported and gut-wrenching images have emerged of suffering children and long food lines.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 22 Aug. 2025
Charlotte Lawrence loves a good, gut-wrenching, sad song.
—Leah Lu, Rolling Stone, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gut-wrenching
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gut-wrenching
Adjective
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The crew have put two giant skeletons with their arms in the air like gruesome wacky waving inflatable tube men at the Farm's entrance to catch your eye and indicate where the spooky fun is at.—
Meredith G. White,
AZCentral.com,
25 Sep. 2025
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The fake blood trapped between the layers bursts out at the incision point, replicating in gruesome detail the sensation of real bleeding.—
Mack DeGeurin,
Popular Science,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Ward's attorney, Joanna Green, acknowledged the horrific nature of the crimes but said Ward has expressed remorse for committing them.—
Kristine Phillips,
IndyStar,
24 Sep. 2025
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The horrific attack this morning at a Dallas ICE facility was a targeted act of violence and hate.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Also, the scene where Pi hallucinates blindness and a talking Richard Parker (in French, oddly) is terrific.—
Rick Mauch,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Sep. 2025
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However, the display itself turned in a terrific performance.—
Mark Coppock,
PC Magazine,
21 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Once Bledsoe received a clean bill of health, then-Patriots coach Bill Belichick made the shocking decision to stick with Brady as the starting quarterback.—
Skyler Trepel,
PEOPLE,
23 Sep. 2025
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Ironically enough, at this time a year ago, the Tigers were closing in on a shocking playoff berth after selling at the trade deadline and winning 31 of their last 44 games.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Last year, a woman in France shared hair-raising footage of her terrifying encounter with a spider.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Sep. 2025
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The existentialist who sits at my desk feels we are each individually thrown into the deep end of existence and tasked with swimming, and that this is a terrifying and heavy task.—
Zadie Smith,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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To be clear, political violence is barbaric and horrifying.—
Billy Eichner,
Rolling Stone,
21 Sep. 2025
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The crime itself was horrifying.—
Larry Magid,
Mercury News,
21 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Technological challenges also proved formidable, as ambitious projects like Sealab failed.—
Danny Robb,
JSTOR Daily,
26 Sep. 2025
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Ong will discuss the strategies and creative principles behind the media giant’s approach to leveraging its formidable library of IP in the gaming world.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The sixth inning also featured a frightening moment when Cleveland’s David Fry, squaring around to bunt, took a 99 mph fastball from Skubal off his face, crumpling to the dirt as Skubal reacted with distress.—
Zack Meisel,
New York Times,
24 Sep. 2025
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Visitors enter a space of torture featuring frightening medical tests and experiments.—
Jim Riccioli,
jsonline.com,
21 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gut-wrenching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gut-wrenching. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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