It seems that the term “heart-wrenching” has become more popular than “heartrending,” possibly due to a conflation with “gut-wrenching.” However, “heart-wrenching” has been around for almost two centuries, as evidenced by early examples such as those found in works by William Carleton and Thomas Aird.
Most online dictionaries now recognize “heart-wrenching” as a standard term, defining it as “very sad” with examples like “a heart-wrenching story.” Additionally, “heart-wrenching” and “heart-wrenchingly” are included in dictionaries like Cambridge and Collins.
While “heartrending” and “heartbreaking” are older terms, “heartbreaking” appears to be more popular based on Google’s Ngram Viewer data. The earliest citation for “heartbreaking” is from a work by Edmund Spenser in 1591, while “heartrending” dates back to a prose romance by Lady Mary Wroth in 1621.
It’s important to note that “heart-wrenching” is not a hybrid of “gut-wrenching,” as the latter term did not appear until the late 20th century. The first citation for “gut-wrenching” is from a book about Grant McConachie in 1972.
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