heart-breaking

A child receives a heart-breaking letter about a lost pet.

Definition

Adjective:
- Causing intense sorrow or distress: "heart-breaking" describes something that evokes a deep, painful emotional response, often due to loss, tragedy, or disappointment.

Usage Examples

Adjective:
- The documentary about abandoned animals was heart-breaking to watch. (It caused deep sadness and emotional pain.)
- She received heart-breaking news of her friend's accident. (The news was extremely distressing and sorrowful.)

Advanced Usage

"heart-breakingly" (adverb): in a manner that causes intense sorrow.
- The child's story was heart-breakingly sad. (The story was so sad it was emotionally devastating.)
"heart-breaking moment": a specific instance that is emotionally painful.
- The final goodbye was a heart-breaking moment for everyone. (The farewell caused great emotional pain.)

Variants and Related Words

Heartbreak (noun): overwhelming sorrow or distress.
- The end of their relationship caused him great heartbreak. (He felt intense emotional pain.)
Heartbroken (adjective): suffering from intense sorrow.
- She was heartbroken after losing her pet. (She was overwhelmed with grief.)
Heartbreaker (noun): a person or thing that causes heartbreak.
- He was known as a heartbreaker, leaving many partners devastated. (He caused emotional pain through his actions.)

Synonyms

Related Idioms

Break someone's heart: to cause someone great emotional pain.
- It broke her heart to see him leave. (It caused her deep sadness.)
Heart-wrenching: causing intense emotional pain or sorrow.
- The movie's ending was heart-wrenching. (It was emotionally agonizing.)

Phrasal Verbs

(No direct phrasal verbs exist for "heart-breaking" as it is an adjective; however, related verb phrases include:)
Tear apart: to cause great emotional distress.
- The news tore their family apart. (It caused severe emotional pain and division.)

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