Synonyms of harrowing

harrowing 1 of 2

adjective

ˈher-ə-wiŋ 

1

as in painful

hard to accept or bear especially emotionally

a harrowing portrayal of the ravages of war

Synonyms & Similar Words

• painful
• harsh
• cruel
• torturous
• agonizing
• horrible
• excruciating
• terrible
• bitter
• severe
• hurtful
• awful
• grievous
• heartrending
• galling
• unacceptable
• unbearable
• dreadful
• tormenting
• afflicting
• bad
• dire
• intense
• intolerable
• appalling
• miserable
• unendurable
• ghastly
• extreme
• insufferable
• vile
• acute
• insupportable
• nasty
• wretched
• unsupportable
• rotten
• piercing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sweet
• gratifying
• pleasing
• bearable
• tolerable
• sustainable
• endurable
• survivable
• supportable
• acceptable
• reasonable
• livable
• allowable
• liveable
• sufferable

2

as in wrenching

intensely or unbearably painful

the harrowing amputations without any anesthetic that soldiers and sailors once were forced to endure

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wrenching
• torturous
• agonizing
• excruciating
• intense
• torturing
• raging
• violent
• extreme
• tormenting
• acute
• biting
• racking
• exquisite
• fierce
• vehement
• tearing
• penetrating
• stabbing
• stinging
• sharp
• piercing
• shooting
• cutting
• tingling
• smarting

harrowing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of harrow

as in plaguing

to cause persistent suffering to

the villagers were gaunt and sickly, harrowed by years of disease and starvation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plaguing
• afflicting
• persecuting
• excruciating
• torturing
• agonizing
• anguishing
• tormenting
• besieging
• troubling
• cursing
• attacking
• bothering
• stinging
• bedeviling
• disturbing
• besetting
• racking
• striking
• distressing
• exasperating
• overwhelming
• aggravating
• annoying
• pursuing
• disquieting
• upsetting
• discomforting
• irritating
• vexing
• worrying
• harassing
• riding
• assailing
• trying
• badgering
• grieving
• perturbing
• harrying
• dogging
• hounding
• galling
• agitating
• stressing
• pestering
• stabbing
• nettling
• oppressing
• molesting
• bugging
• hurting
• irking
• rasping
• grating
• griping
• chafing
• overpowering
• crushing
• straining
• putting out
• smarting
• riling
• victimizing
• pricking
• paining
• smiting
• tyrannizing
• piquing
• wringing
• flustering
• getting
• discomposing
• hagriding
• peeving
• panging
• martyring

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• helping
• assisting
• aiding
• abetting
• relieving
• delivering
• comforting
• releasing
• soothing
• consoling
• quieting
• contenting
• succoring
• solacing
• reprieving

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of harrowing

Adjective

Warfare tells the harrowing story of their rescue in real time—even though much of this movie is constructed from long, languorous takes, the film moves forward in tense fits and starts. —Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 11 Apr. 2025

Following the harrowing experience, which landed him in the hospital, Kilmer learned that the lump in his throat was cancer, later undergoing a tracheotomy, chemotherapy and radiation. —Bailey Richards, People.com, 10 Apr. 2025

Then a disclaimer mentions that this look back was compiled through various interviews with those who survived that harrowing attack. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 Apr. 2025

Based on a Black List script by Tommy White and Miles Hubley, Runner follows Hank Malone (Ritchson), a high-end courier faced with a harrowing, life-or-death mission: deliver an organ to a 7-year-old girl in need of an immediate transplant. —Matt Grobar, Deadline, 2 Apr. 2025