Synonyms of harrowing

harrowing 1 of 2

adjective

ˈher-ə-wiŋ 

1

as in painful

hard to accept or bear especially emotionally

a harrowing portrayal of the ravages of war

Synonyms & Similar Words

• painful
• harsh
• cruel
• torturous
• agonizing
• horrible
• excruciating
• terrible
• bitter
• severe
• hurtful
• awful
• grievous
• heartrending
• galling
• unacceptable
• unbearable
• dreadful
• tormenting
• afflicting
• bad
• dire
• intense
• intolerable
• appalling
• miserable
• unendurable
• ghastly
• extreme
• insufferable
• vile
• acute
• insupportable
• nasty
• wretched
• unsupportable
• rotten
• piercing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sweet
• gratifying
• pleasing
• bearable
• tolerable
• sustainable
• endurable
• survivable
• acceptable
• supportable
• reasonable
• livable
• allowable
• sufferable

2

as in wrenching

intensely or unbearably painful

the harrowing amputations without any anesthetic that soldiers and sailors once were forced to endure

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wrenching
• torturous
• agonizing
• excruciating
• intense
• torturing
• raging
• violent
• extreme
• tormenting
• acute
• biting
• racking
• exquisite
• fierce
• vehement
• tearing
• penetrating
• stabbing
• stinging
• sharp
• piercing
• shooting
• cutting
• tingling
• smarting

harrowing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of harrow

as in plaguing

to cause persistent suffering to

the villagers were gaunt and sickly, harrowed by years of disease and starvation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plaguing
• afflicting
• persecuting
• excruciating
• torturing
• agonizing
• anguishing
• tormenting
• besieging
• troubling
• cursing
• attacking
• bothering
• stinging
• bedeviling
• disturbing
• besetting
• racking
• striking
• distressing
• exasperating
• overwhelming
• aggravating
• annoying
• pursuing
• disquieting
• upsetting
• discomforting
• irritating
• vexing
• worrying
• harassing
• riding
• assailing
• trying
• badgering
• grieving
• perturbing
• harrying
• dogging
• hounding
• galling
• agitating
• stressing
• pestering
• stabbing
• nettling
• oppressing
• molesting
• bugging
• hurting
• irking
• rasping
• grating
• griping
• chafing
• overpowering
• crushing
• straining
• putting out
• smarting
• riling
• victimizing
• pricking
• paining
• smiting
• tyrannizing
• piquing
• wringing
• flustering
• getting
• discomposing
• hagriding
• peeving
• panging
• martyring

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• helping
• assisting
• aiding
• abetting
• relieving
• delivering
• comforting
• releasing
• soothing
• consoling
• quieting
• contenting
• succoring
• solacing
• reprieving

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of harrowing

Adjective

Almost two weeks after a harrowing livestream at his Miami home, Perez Hilton is still hospitalized, according to a statement. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 17 Aug. 2026

In one of her final interviews, Hayden Panettiere opened up about the harrowing experience of giving birth to her daughter, Kaya. — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Aug. 2026

But the Navajo Code Talkers are best known for the harrowing days of the Pacific battles. — Debra Utacia Krol, AZCentral.com, 14 Aug. 2026

Jurors heard a harrowing voicemail left by Johnson begging one of her friends for help as Williams butchered her, stabbing her five times in the chest and four times in her back. — John Annese, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2026