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harrowing

har·row·ing
H h

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [har-oh-ing]
    • /ˈhær oʊ ɪŋ/
    • /ˈhær.əʊ.ɪŋ/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [har-oh-ing]
    • /ˈhær oʊ ɪŋ/

Definitions of harrowing word

  • adjective harrowing extremely disturbing or distressing; grievous: a harrowing experience. 1
  • noun harrowing an agricultural implement with spikelike teeth or upright disks, drawn chiefly over plowed land to level it, break up clods, root up weeds, etc. 1
  • verb with object harrowing to ravish; violate; despoil. 1
  • verb with object harrowing harry (def 2). 1
  • verb with object harrowing (of Christ) to descend into (hell) to free the righteous held captive. 1
  • verb without object harrowing to become broken up by harrowing, as soil. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of harrowing

First appearance:

before 1800
One of the 42% newest English words
First recorded in 1800-10; harrow1 + -ing2

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Harrowing

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

harrowing popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 71% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

harrowing usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for harrowing

adj harrowing

  • distressing — great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; acute physical or mental suffering; affliction; trouble.
  • painful — affected with, causing, or characterized by pain: a painful wound; a painful night; a painful memory.
  • torturous — pertaining to, involving, or causing torture or suffering.
  • heartbreaking — causing intense anguish or sorrow.
  • terrifying — to fill with terror or alarm; make greatly afraid.

adjective harrowing

  • upsetting — overturned: an upset milk pail.
  • vexing — to irritate; annoy; provoke: His noisy neighbors often vexed him.
  • dreadful — causing great dread, fear, or terror; terrible: a dreadful storm.
  • worrying — to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.
  • stressful — full of stress or tension: the stressful days before a war.

Antonyms for harrowing

adj harrowing

  • pleasant — pleasing, agreeable, or enjoyable; giving pleasure: pleasant news.
  • calming — soothing; tranquillizing
  • pleasing — giving pleasure; agreeable; gratifying: a pleasing performance.
  • frighten — to make afraid or fearful; throw into a fright; terrify; scare.

adjective harrowing

  • relaxing — to make less tense, rigid, or firm; make lax: to relax the muscles.

Top questions with harrowing

  • what does harrowing mean?
  • what is harrowing?
  • when does the harrowing start?
  • what does the word harrowing mean?

See also

Matching words

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