adjective

• Acutely distressing.

  ‘a harrowing film about racism and violence’

  More example sentences

  • ‘it was a harrowing experience’
  • ‘The committee has heard a number of submissions, some of which were harrowing.’
  • ‘Ethiopia, where 10 to 14 million people now face famine, is also going through a harrowing experience.’
  • ‘Arab Americans who came forward to testify at the hearing told equally harrowing tales of harassment.’
  • ‘The case histories of the three women afflicted with life-long suffering from the disease made harrowing reading.’
  • ‘What she went through had to have been harrowing.’
  • ‘Her battle with the disease included surviving two harrowing bone marrow transplants.’
  • ‘About 1949, the harrowing experience was relived by mother.’
  • ‘The film is a harrowing tale about a woman who wakes up to find her husband dead.’
  • ‘Publicity of this kind must be very harrowing for a normal, everyday woman going about her business.’
  • ‘Escape training can be a harrowing experience especially for those who are claustrophobic.’
  • ‘Both apparently came through the harrowing incident unscathed.’
  • ‘Later, they broke down in tears as the four-week trial, which has revealed harrowing evidence, came to a close.’
  • ‘It was, without exception, one of the most harrowing experiences of my life.’
  • ‘Dressed in a blue check shirt, blue trousers and a green jumper, he told reporters of his harrowing experience.’
  • ‘The scars on his arms and his disfigured hands tell their own harrowing tale.’
  • ‘It was a miserable, harrowing experience for those involved.’
  • ‘Mid morning a young girl arrives after a harrowing journey, bewildered by her new surroundings.’
  • ‘Entering the Auburn campus had been difficult and harrowing, and Franklin still had to register for classes.’
  • ‘The humbling and harrowing morality of the play, and much of its poetry, are lost.’
  • ‘Survivors described their harrowing ordeal to reporters.’