Definition of "heart-rending" []

• Causing anguish or deep distress; arousing deep sympathy. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It was interesting to read it while watching the end of BSG: it approaches the divide between robot and human in very different (and heart-rending) ways."
• "I have no idea whether other people with high-functioning autism see the world this way; the viewpoint is the young author's own, and I found the book, published for the young adult market, consistently funny and heart-rending."
• "Those final moments are heart-rending for their beauty, and their poignancy in the overall story."