heartbreaking

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word heartbreaking. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word heartbreaking, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say heartbreaking in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word heartbreaking you have here. The definition of the word heartbreaking will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofheartbreaking, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: heart-breaking

English

Etymology

From heart +‎ breaking.

Adjective

heartbreaking (comparative more heartbreaking, superlative most heartbreaking)

  1. That causes great grief, anguish or distress.
    • 1941 April, “Notes and News: Railwaymen and Snow”, in Railway Magazine, page 177:
      Things went well with the clearing on Friday, but by Saturday, February 3, a 70 m.p.h. blizzard set in, and against such heartbreaking conditions, although an effort was made with the plough to keep open the sections cleared on the previous day, ground was gradually lost, [...].

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

heartbreaking (plural heartbreakings)

  1. The breaking of a heart; great grief, anguish or distress.
    • 1999, Karen Gayton Swisher, John Tippeconnic, Next Steps: Research and Practice to Advance Indian Education, page 17:
      One could argue that Eliot's "great heartbreakings" were the overt physical signs of the inner psychological transformations achieved through brainwashing, cultural attack, and epidemic mortality.