Meaning & use
harrowing
Last updated
Extremely distressing or disturbing; causing great fear, pain, or anguish.
See it in a sentence
She described the harrowing experience of being trapped in the flooded building.
The documentary includes harrowing footage from the war's early days.
A note on using this word
Harrowing is almost always used for real or vivid accounts of suffering, such as survivor stories, disasters, or war, rather than mild annoyances.
Words with a similar meaning
distressingtraumaticagonizing
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
comfortingpleasant
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