“Heart-wrenching” vs. “Heartrending” (Yes, “Heart-wrenching” Is a Real Word)
Many Experts Say “Heart-wrenching” Is a Mistake — This Editor Says They’re Wrong
If you have other things to do today, here’s the short version: Heart-wrenching implies a twisting (i.e., wrenching) of the heart, and heartrending implies a tearing.
These differences in flavor are subtle but distinct. Despite some experts’ vendetta against it, heart-wrenching is accepted by several English dictionaries and has been in use since at least 1834.
But if you’re curious or skeptical about this claim — well, then you’re my kind of person. Please join me on this slightly obsessive journey into an impassioned defense of heart-wrenching.
This started because I tried to double-check when to use the hyphen in heart-wrenching.
I was surprised to hit multiple articles and blog posts, some by other editors, claiming that heart-wrenching was not a real word. It was, these articles insisted, a malapropism. The word I wanted was heartrending, but I had mixed that up with gut-wrenching.¹
No, I had not.
Heartrending is a beautiful word. But it lacks the violent torque of heart-wrenching.
