heartbreaking

See also: heart-breaking

English

Etymology

heart +‎ breaking

Adjective

heartbreaking (comparative more heartbreaking, superlative most heartbreaking)

1. That causes great grief, anguish or distress.
   • 1941 April, “Notes and News: Railwaymen and Snow”, in Railway Magazine, page 177:

     Things went well with the clearing on Friday, but by Saturday, February 3, a 70 m.p.h. blizzard set in, and against such heartbreaking conditions, although an effort was made with the plough to keep open the sections cleared on the previous day, ground was gradually lost, [...].

Derived terms

• heartbreakingly
• heartbreakingness (uncommon)

Translations

That causes great grief, anguish or distress

• Bulgarian: сърцераздирателен (bg) (sǎrcerazdiratelen)
• French: déchirant (fr), navrant (fr)
• German: herzzerreißend (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: (Epic) θυμαλγής (thumalgḗs)

• Malayalam: ഹൃദയഭേദകമായ (ml) (hr̥dayabhēdakamāya)
• Maori: tarariki
• Portuguese: de partir o coração
• Serbo-Croatian: srceparajući, srcerazdirući
• Slovak: srdcervúci
• Spanish: desgarrador (es), desolador, devastador (es)
• Ukrainian: розпа́чливий m (rozpáčlyvyj), нестя́мний m (nestjámnyj)
• Vietnamese: đau lòng (vi)

Noun

heartbreaking (plural heartbreakings)

1. The breaking of a heart; great grief, anguish or distress.
   • 1999, Karen Gayton Swisher, John Tippeconnic, Next Steps: Research and Practice to Advance Indian Education, page 17:

     One could argue that Eliot's "great heartbreakings" were the overt physical signs of the inner psychological transformations achieved through brainwashing, cultural attack, and epidemic mortality.

Related terms

• break someone's heart
• heartbreaker