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
Tim Padgett, Sun Sentinel, 27 Mar. 2026
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
Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 8 May 2026
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
CBS News, 17 May 2026
The 63-year-old auteur, winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2018 for Shoplifters, has made his indelible imprint on world cinema with delicate family drama, suffused with wry humor and wrenching humanism, far more so than futurism.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
Dwight grabbed my arm, wrenching my hand out of my pocket, flaying it like a fish, pulling me along.
—Literary Hub, 15 May 2026
And the first step in beginning to sell real, substantive hope will require incoming Canucks leadership to make some gut-wrenching decisions while surrounding themselves with a group of advisers of the highest quality.
—Thomas Drance, New York Times, 13 May 2026
The wrenching documentary about a father’s desperate search for his missing teenage son won the Golden Alexander at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in Greece in March and premiered in World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 9 May 2026
Hours after that gut-wrenching loss, 25-year-old right-hander Ben Joyce pitched for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga.
—Jeff Fletcher, Oc Register, 30 Apr. 2026
Ultimately, in a gut-wrenching twist, her character dies following complications from preeclampsia and severe postpartum bleeding after giving birth.
—Deirdre Durkan, PEOPLE, 28 Apr. 2026
It’s based on the dramatic and emotionally wrenching personal life of Southern Gothic author Carson McCullers, a physically frail but powerful novelist, adept at portraying the loneliness and isolation of misfits and outcasts.
—Marcia Luttrell, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
Another wrenching question, of course, is whether at least the younger Perez siblings would want or need to go with Olga to Guatemala if she were deported.
—Tim Padgett, Sun Sentinel, 27 Mar. 2026
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
Iyer called the case heart-wrenching.
—Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 8 May 2026
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
Rousey quickly moved into position and applied her famous finishing move, wrenching Carano's arm as the fight was stopped.
—CBS News, 17 May 2026
The 63-year-old auteur, winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or in 2018 for Shoplifters, has made his indelible imprint on world cinema with delicate family drama, suffused with wry humor and wrenching humanism, far more so than futurism.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
Dwight grabbed my arm, wrenching my hand out of my pocket, flaying it like a fish, pulling me along.
—Literary Hub, 15 May 2026
And the first step in beginning to sell real, substantive hope will require incoming Canucks leadership to make some gut-wrenching decisions while surrounding themselves with a group of advisers of the highest quality.
—Thomas Drance, New York Times, 13 May 2026
The wrenching documentary about a father’s desperate search for his missing teenage son won the Golden Alexander at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in Greece in March and premiered in World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 9 May 2026
Hours after that gut-wrenching loss, 25-year-old right-hander Ben Joyce pitched for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga.
—Jeff Fletcher, Oc Register, 30 Apr. 2026
Ultimately, in a gut-wrenching twist, her character dies following complications from preeclampsia and severe postpartum bleeding after giving birth.
—Deirdre Durkan, PEOPLE, 28 Apr. 2026
It’s based on the dramatic and emotionally wrenching personal life of Southern Gothic author Carson McCullers, a physically frail but powerful novelist, adept at portraying the loneliness and isolation of misfits and outcasts.
—Marcia Luttrell, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrenching
Adjective
-
But to even start that journey requires an agonizing, sober look in the mirror.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
18 May 2026
-
In a movie that’s almost operatic in its cymbal clashes of violence, its agonizing tensions and vicious threats, the heartstopping scene in which Hester receives her diagnosis at the doctor’s office is perhaps the single most devastating moment.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
Verb
-
The Wall Street wine guys of the eighties, now elderly, seem to be pulling the ladder up behind them.—
Hannah Goldfield,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
This entire island’s economy used to depend on them pulling the heavy wooden wheels of old-school olive presses.—
Jennifer Leigh Parker,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
Verb
-
Katie Lou Samuelson, Collier’s UConn classmate, missed the 2025 season after tearing her ACL during training camp with the Seattle Storm.—
Emily Adams,
Hartford Courant,
11 May 2026
-
One of the state’s most infamous tornadoes, this massive F4 touched down near Holliday before tearing into Wichita Falls.—
Brandi D. Addison,
USA Today,
11 May 2026
Adjective
-
Sixteen months after leaving Wolves following a torturous end to a once-promising tenure, O’Neil has set about rebuilding his coaching career in the unlikely surroundings of France’s Ligue 1.—
Steve Madeley,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Activists claim the animals were living in torturous conditions and were being used for medical research.—
Brady Halbleib,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
What was remarkable about Newcastle was how one tug on the thread caused Nuno’s players to unravel.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
18 May 2026
-
Aqua Lares, originally known as Giant I, was built as an icebreaking tug in 1974 by the Dutch shipyard IHC Verschure.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
Before the film's presentation, the actress was seen playfully tugging at her husband's blazer.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
12 May 2026
-
The gel formula swipes onto the lids without any skipping or tugging, giving you ample time to smudge, sculpt, or sharpen the line before the brand’s patented PermaLock Technology sets it into a waterproof, transfer-proof, and smudge-proof finish.—
Jailynn Taylor,
Allure,
10 May 2026
Verb
-
The lifeguard pursued me in a gray metal dinghy with a bullhorn, ordering me out of the water and yanking me up over the side of his boat.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 May 2026
-
Essentially, yanking gravity away is another tool, just like temperature or pressure, that drug manufacturers can apply to improve their products.—
Eric Berger,
ArsTechnica,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
His past films have covered the Hungarian Uprising, the fraught lead-up to WWI and, in 2015’s excruciating Son of Saul, life and death in a Nazi concentration camp.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2026
-
More playing like adults at the most difficult moments, following excruciating losses or facing the possibility of one more loss ending the season.—
Joe Vardon,
New York Times,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wrenching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrenching. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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