wrenching

Thân thiện

The news brought a wrenching sadness to her heart.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Causing great physical or mental suffering; intensely distressing or painful: Describes something that inflicts severe emotional or physical strain, often involving a sense of violent twisting or tearing.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Leaving her childhood home was a wrenching experience.
  • He let out a wrenching cry of grief.
  • The documentary showed the wrenching decision faced by the refugees.

Advanced Usage

• "Wrenching" as a participial adjective: Often used to modify nouns like "experience," "decision," "pain," "cry," or "story" to emphasize profound distress.
  • The memoir details her wrenching recovery from the accident.
• Used to describe a pain that feels as if something is being violently twisted.
  • A wrenching spasm in his side made him gasp.

Variants and Related Words

• Wrench (verb): To twist or pull suddenly and violently.
  • She wrenched her ankle in the fall.
• Wrench (noun): A sudden, violent twist or pull; also a tool for gripping and turning.
  • He gave the lid a final wrench to open it.
• Heart-wrenching (adjective): An intensive compound form meaning causing intense sadness or emotional pain.
  • The film's final scene was heart-wrenching.

Synonyms

• Agonizing: Causing great physical or mental pain.
• Harrowing: Acutely distressing or frightening.
• Excruciating: Intensely painful.
• Gut-wrenching: Causing severe emotional distress (informal, intensive synonym).

Related Phrases

• A wrenching change: A change that is very difficult and painful to endure.
  • The company's closure meant a wrenching change for the entire town.
• To wrench oneself away: To force oneself to leave a person or place with great emotional difficulty.
  • It was hard to wrench herself away from her family.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. causing great physical or mental suffering
   • a wrenching pain

Từ đồng nghĩa

• racking