Synonyms and Antonyms of heartrending
1
causing unhappiness
- couldn't bear to see the heartrending photos of victims of the famine
depressing, dismal, drear, dreary, heartbreaking, melancholy, mournful, pathetic, sad, saddening, sorry, tearful, teary
deplorable, distressful, grievous, lamentable, unfortunate, woeful
discomforting, discomposing, disquieting, distressing, disturbing, perturbing
affecting, moving, poignant, touching
discouraging, disheartening, dispiriting
heartening, heartwarming, inspiring, stimulating, stirring, uplifting
agreeable, delightful, enjoyable, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, satisfying, welcome
exhilarating, thrilling
2
hard to accept or bear especially emotionally
- a heartrending choice between saving his daughter or his son
afflicting, agonizing, bitter, cruel, excruciating, galling, grievous, harrowing, harsh, hurtful, painful, tormenting, torturous
insufferable, insupportable, intolerable, unacceptable, unbearable, unendurable, unsupportable
appalling, awful, bad, dire, dreadful, ghastly, horrible, miserable, nasty, rotten, severe, terrible, vile, wretched
acute, extreme, intense, piercing
3
of a kind to cause great distress
- heartrending memories of all the terrible crimes he'd committed and was sorry for now
deplorable, distressful, distressing, grievous, heartbreaking, lamentable, regrettable, tragic (also tragical), unfortunate, unlucky, woeful
troublesome, vexatious
affecting, doleful, moving, piteous, poignant, ruthful, touching
awful, dire, dreadful, fearful, severe, terrible
alarming, disturbing, perturbing, traumatic, unsettling
crushing, excruciating, harrowing, horrible, horrifying, intolerable, overwhelming, shocking, sickening, unbearable
miserable, pitiful, sad, wretched
calamitous, disastrous
painful, raging, sharp
