Heartbreaking means causing very great sadness. A heartbreaking story, heartbreaking scenes, heartbreaking to watch.
It is used of a loss suffered by somebody else, which is worth noticing: people describe another person's grief as heartbreaking rather than their own. In sport it means a narrow defeat, which is a much lighter use of a heavy word.
1adjectiveheartbreakingCausing very great sadness.
“It was heartbreaking to see the family's home destroyed by the fire.”
heartbreaking is a quality.
Heart plus breaking. The image of a broken heart is older than English and appears in many languages.
From heart + breaking.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA