1
as in painful
hard to accept or bear especially emotionally
a harrowing portrayal of the ravages of war
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
as in plaguing
to cause persistent suffering to
the villagers were gaunt and sickly, harrowed by years of disease and starvation
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of harrowing
Mark Joseph, Newsweek, 24 Feb. 2025
Their harrowing journey — through capture, persecution, and desperate escape — works as a fantastic standalone tale.
—Matt Cabral, EW.com, 23 Feb. 2025
Plaintiffs in the case include foreign service officers who described their harrowing escape from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in recent weeks amid protests tearing through the country.
—Lucien Bruggeman, ABC News, 17 Feb. 2025
Some of the most harrowing frames of the footage showed victims—mostly elders—taking their last breaths, as well as a boy with blood all over his clothes.
—Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harrowing
Adjective
The woman, 28, shared her harrowing experience anonymously on Reddit, under u/magalie_trowaway, on February 20.
—Mark Joseph, Newsweek, 24 Feb. 2025
Their harrowing journey — through capture, persecution, and desperate escape — works as a fantastic standalone tale.
—Matt Cabral, EW.com, 23 Feb. 2025
Plaintiffs in the case include foreign service officers who described their harrowing escape from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in recent weeks amid protests tearing through the country.
—Lucien Bruggeman, ABC News, 17 Feb. 2025
Some of the most harrowing frames of the footage showed victims—mostly elders—taking their last breaths, as well as a boy with blood all over his clothes.
—Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 10 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for harrowing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harrowing
Adjective
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Whether a client hires a single architect to design a house or a team to work on a downtown plan with multiple community stakeholders, the architect-client relationship is rarely one of a painful struggle.—
Matt Shaw,
Forbes,
28 Feb. 2025
-
Throughout her childhood, Dee Dee subjected her Gypsy-Rose to years of painful medical procedures that were not needed.—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Her lyric vocal writing contends with harsh reality, but her style is never far from profound rapture.—
Mark Swed,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Feb. 2025
-
The 79-year-old Oscar winner embraces the challenging role of the Dutton family matriarch alongside co-star Harrison Ford, confronting everything from mountain lions to the harsh realities of frontier life.—
Holly Williams,
CBS News,
28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The Lombardi is more Holy Grail than trophy, the end of what can only be described as a torturous emotional pilgrimage.—
Ali Watkins,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2025
-
Getting rid of the death penalty also would bring a close to these torturous years of appeals for so many of us.—
Yaakov Katz,
Newsweek,
7 Feb. 2025
Verb
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An audacious plan In the mid-1980s, global health agencies were otherwise occupied and heads of state largely overlooked the illness afflicting millions of their citizens.—
Sam Mednick,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Dec. 2024
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The United States now suffers from twin pathologies—one afflicting the health of its citizens and the other the health of its political system.—
Thomas J. Bollyky,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Jan. 2020
Adjective
-
Immigration advocates call the crackdown cruel and wrongheaded and warn that many Latino U.S. citizens will likely suffer violations of their civil rights and possibly even get mistakenly deported.—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
6 Mar. 2025
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As mere surrogates, the Trump-DeSantis fight to outdo each other through mean and cruel policies will go on.—
Letters to the Editor,
Orlando Sentinel,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The first penalty trial featured agonizing testimony from O’Sullivan’s parents, friends and family, and took jurors through the details of the bloody scene in Del Paso Heights with videos, maps, photos and statements from other officers who had been at the scene.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacramento Bee,
24 Feb. 2025
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Over in the House, Republicans have been agonizing to come up with at least $2 trillion in spending cuts to pay for Mr. Trump’s fiscal agenda and placate their most conservative members.—
Catie Edmondson,
New York Times,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
In late 2019, sudden, excruciating pain in my pelvis sent me to the emergency room.—
Katrina Martin,
Health,
4 Mar. 2025
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The finish is long on the palate with an excruciating persistence of coal and extinguished forest fire.—
Emily Price,
Forbes,
1 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The intense gravitational pull from the black hole rips the two stars apart, capturing one star into a close orbit around it, notes the center.—
Bruce Dorminey,
Forbes,
8 Mar. 2025
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This is due to the bodywork, interior work, and intense customization required to retrofit a new drivetrain under an old body.—
Robb Report Studio,
Robb Report,
8 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Harrowing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harrowing. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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