as in agonizing
intensely or unbearably painful
forced to make the emotionally wrenching decision to place her mother in a nursing home
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in twisting
a forceful rotating or pulling motion for the purpose of dislodging something
after a lot of wrenching and tugging, the plumber managed to pull the stubborn pipe free
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in pulling
to move by or as if by a forceful rotation
with one last sharp yank, he wrenched the lid off the bottle of ketchup
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in damaging
to injure by overuse, misuse, or pressure
wrenched her shoulder by all of that heavy lifting
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in tearing
to separate or remove by forceful pulling
wrenched the post out of the ground
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wrenching
Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
What's going on is absolutely heart-wrenching.
—Kiki Intarasuwan, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
Warfare Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare is an admirable attempt to counter the truism that there’s no such thing as an anti-war movie — that all war movies, however gruesome or wrenching, effectively (and often unwittingly) wind up glamorizing combat to some degree.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
One particularly wrenching moment in the film made an impression on her stepfather, Kurt Russell.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
Perhaps the most wrenching scene is one in which Anders, seated alone in a busy café, tunes in to ordinary conversations around him.
—Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Cori Sears, The Spruce, 22 Jan. 2026
Such is the case in Quiara Alegría Hudes’s wrenching and mordant debut novel, The White Hot, in which 26-year-old April Soto hits her breaking point and walks out on her 10-year-old daughter, Noelle.
—Ruth Madievsky, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026
People were calling it tacky, brave, MFA garbage, heart wrenching.
—Sarah Adler
september 8, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
Gut wrenching doesn’t begin to describe it.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 7 Sep. 2025
Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2026
But the 2005 rendition by Claudie Blakley is heart wrenching, and serves to chasten Kiera Knightly’s Lizzy into deeper reflection, perhaps even reconsideration, of her knee-jerk reactions and sky-high romantic standards for matrimony.
—Literary Hub, 9 Mar. 2026
Add in Paul Mescal's solid turn as an absent Bard dad who deals with the loss in his own way, plus a cathartic final act, and director Chloé Zhao's gut-wrenching historical drama has a good chance of placing high on a lot of Oscar voters' lists.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 8 Mar. 2026
The diagnosis of the aggressive form of bone cancer required several surgeries, chemotherapy and a wrenching goodbye to his skateboarding career.
—Jacob Louraine, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2026
Despite suffering two gut-wrenching home losses in a row, UCF basketball isn’t quite ready to hit the panic button regarding its NCAA Tournament chances.
—Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2026
In May 2024, more than 15 family members spoke at the nearly four-hour sentencing hearing in Los Angeles federal court, providing wrenching memories of children, spouses, brothers and sisters who perished in the tragedy.
—City News Service, Daily News, 4 Mar. 2026
Only hours into the conflict, an errant strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school in southern Iran served as a gut-wrenching reminder of the cost of such illusions, and a testament to the grim truth that those who pay most dearly for the fog of war are almost always the innocent.
—Karim Sadjadpour, The Atlantic, 4 Mar. 2026
Unlike humans, a machine does not intuitively sense risk or feel the gut-wrenching fear of capital loss.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2026
Adjective
These four novels create a convincing, wrenching, kaleidoscopic picture of the range and repetitions of the most fatal kind of love; the sort of love that allows nothing else to grow around it, that eradicates all dignity; a love which, in order to be completed, must be told.
—Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
What's going on is absolutely heart-wrenching.
—Kiki Intarasuwan, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
Warfare Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare is an admirable attempt to counter the truism that there’s no such thing as an anti-war movie — that all war movies, however gruesome or wrenching, effectively (and often unwittingly) wind up glamorizing combat to some degree.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
One particularly wrenching moment in the film made an impression on her stepfather, Kurt Russell.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
Perhaps the most wrenching scene is one in which Anders, seated alone in a busy café, tunes in to ordinary conversations around him.
—Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Noun
This can feel challenging and heart-wrenching.
—Cori Sears, The Spruce, 22 Jan. 2026
Such is the case in Quiara Alegría Hudes’s wrenching and mordant debut novel, The White Hot, in which 26-year-old April Soto hits her breaking point and walks out on her 10-year-old daughter, Noelle.
—Ruth Madievsky, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026
People were calling it tacky, brave, MFA garbage, heart wrenching.
—Sarah Adler
september 8, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
Gut wrenching doesn’t begin to describe it.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 7 Sep. 2025
Verb
This wrenching documentary takes place on a Florida cul-de-sac where kids play outside from dawn till dusk.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2026
But the 2005 rendition by Claudie Blakley is heart wrenching, and serves to chasten Kiera Knightly’s Lizzy into deeper reflection, perhaps even reconsideration, of her knee-jerk reactions and sky-high romantic standards for matrimony.
—Literary Hub, 9 Mar. 2026
Add in Paul Mescal's solid turn as an absent Bard dad who deals with the loss in his own way, plus a cathartic final act, and director Chloé Zhao's gut-wrenching historical drama has a good chance of placing high on a lot of Oscar voters' lists.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 8 Mar. 2026
The diagnosis of the aggressive form of bone cancer required several surgeries, chemotherapy and a wrenching goodbye to his skateboarding career.
—Jacob Louraine, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2026
Despite suffering two gut-wrenching home losses in a row, UCF basketball isn’t quite ready to hit the panic button regarding its NCAA Tournament chances.
—Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2026
In May 2024, more than 15 family members spoke at the nearly four-hour sentencing hearing in Los Angeles federal court, providing wrenching memories of children, spouses, brothers and sisters who perished in the tragedy.
—City News Service, Daily News, 4 Mar. 2026
Only hours into the conflict, an errant strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school in southern Iran served as a gut-wrenching reminder of the cost of such illusions, and a testament to the grim truth that those who pay most dearly for the fog of war are almost always the innocent.
—Karim Sadjadpour, The Atlantic, 4 Mar. 2026
Unlike humans, a machine does not intuitively sense risk or feel the gut-wrenching fear of capital loss.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrenching
Adjective
-
Anyone who followed that series on a weekly basis knows how agonizing those cliffhangers could be.—
Hanna Wickes,
Charlotte Observer,
6 Mar. 2026
-
That's agonizing for families who have to split up while waiting for the heart and during the weeks and months after the transplant.—
Nicole Villalpando,
Austin American Statesman,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Saturday’s episode marked Styles’ second time pulling double duty as SNL host and musical guest.—
Mitchell Peters,
Billboard,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Use methods like hand-pulling, hoeing, newspaper or cardboard mulching, and drip irrigation to manage weeds without harming your crops or the soil.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
14 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Matthew McConaughey stars as a bus driver already stressed out by a tough situation at home when a wildfire starts tearing through towns.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP Images from the scene on Swiss media showed flames tearing through the bus.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
But those torturous years groomed an expert technician.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
11 Mar. 2026
-
The point is that in a pinch, Apple’s low-cost MacBook can handle its share of work without slowing to a crawl or feeling torturous to deal with.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Field Day Song The Melon Patch kids compete in fun Field Day activities and learn the power of teamwork with activities like tug of war and relay races.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
13 Mar. 2026
-
Infused with cranberry seed oil, the formula delivers a smooth, creamy glide with zero tug in sight.—
Lily Wohlner,
Allure,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Playing the title role of a linguistics professor who faces changes and prepares her family for what's to come as the disease takes hold, Moore navigates the character arc with honesty and heart-tugging empathy.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
10 Mar. 2026
-
On Friday, the Euphoria stargave fans a glimpse of her ideal cozy date night, tugging down her plunging burgundy bralette while snapping photos on her laptop from her bed.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The body-camera footage shows Exum yanking the wheel left, toward the Rogue, then right.—
Ruby Cramer,
New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Other plaintiffs’ attorneys, however, have called the CEO’s threat of yanking the product a scare tactic.—
Lisa Schencker,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
After a fall-off in the early half of the 2024-25 season, that plan appeared to be realigning properly when the Blues made a run into the playoffs after the 4 Nations Face-Off, even with their excruciating first-round loss to the Winnipeg Jets.—
Jeremy Rutherford,
New York Times,
26 Feb. 2026
-
The baby’s head was stuck and Nelson was in excruciating pain, so her husband insisted on a hospital transfer.—
Aria Bendix,
NBC news,
26 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wrenching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrenching. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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