harrowing
adj.extremely upsetting, scary, or painful to experience. It describes something that is very difficult to go through because it causes a lot of stress.
adj.acutely distressing or painful to the mind or feelings. Often used to describe traumatic events, journeys, or personal accounts.
“The survivors told a harrowing story of their escape.”
“The documentary provides a harrowing look at the lives of refugees crossing the desert in search of safety.”
“After a harrowing week lost in the wilderness without supplies, the hikers were finally spotted by a rescue helicopter just before sunset.”
Typically used as an attributive adjective before a noun like 'experience', 'tale', or 'ordeal'.
“We are so grateful to her Nepalese hiking partners who saw her through a harrowing several days of hiking in very difficult terrain, so thankful that they have all made it to safety.”
“People shared harrowing stories of how they managed to survive.”
Common in culture writing
By surface analysis, harrow + -ing.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.