heart-piercingadj.
/ˈhɑːtˌpɪəsɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈhɑrtˌpɪ(ə)rsɪŋ/ 1. Of a weapon or blow: that pierces, or is intended to pierce, the heart. Often with reference to the arrows used by Cupid to cause his victims to fall in love; thus coloured by sense 2.
ΚΠ
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. xi. sig. Nn5v The point of his [sc. Cupid's] hart percing dart.
a1788 J. Wesley & C. Wesley Poet. Wks. (1868) XII. 88 The sharp heart-piercing sword they feel, The horrors of that spectacle [sc. the crucifixion].
1816 J. Marsden Narr. Mission to Nova Scotia viii. 117 A mark for the murderous gun or heart-piercing arrow.
1895 M. J. O'Neill How he does It ix. 115 That ruler who would try to stop young love's heart-piercing arrow.
1904 E. A. Jenks Six Incursions iii. 104 Disease is not indigenous to the human body... The worm at the heart of the tree..is no more disease than is the heart-piercing dagger-thrust of the midnight assassin.
2002 D. Milne in P. Holland King Lear & Afterlife 65/1 The literalism of a heart-piercing arrow shot by Cambises is matched by the more metaphorical but no less lethal arrows of Cupid.
2. figurative. Having an intense effect on the emotions; deeply moving. Also (of an emotion): keenly felt. Cf. heart-rending adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > intense emotion > [adjective] > affecting intensely or deeply
visceral1575
heart-burning1590
heart-scalding1594
heart-piercing1598
flint-moving1600
near-touching1615
penetrativea1616
penetrating1632
heartfelt1712
1598 G. Chapman in C. Marlowe & G. Chapman Hero & Leander (new ed.) sig. H2v Nor did it couer, but adumbrate onelie Her most heart-piercing parts.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. xiii. 4) The Pharisees were not a button the better for all those heart-piercing sermons of our Saviour.
1698 J. Dunton Let. (Bodl. MS. Rawl. D. 71) 119 The heart-piercing groans of a deadly wounded man.
1718 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad IV. xiv. 569 Heart-piercing Anguish struck the Grecian Host.
1767 Adventures Kidnapped Orphan i. 21 He shed such torrents of tears, accompanied with such heart-piercing sighs, as forced drops of sympathy from the eyes of his companions.
1806 Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 312/2 He has for me mitigated the severity of bodily pain, and blunted the edge of heart-piercing sorrow.
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise I. ii. 460 That sweet heart-piercing melody.
1921 E. B. O'Reilly How France built her Cathedrals iii. 76 No Greek..conceived beauty of lovelier proportion, of more heart-piercing simplicity, than some of the earlier churches.
1947 Life 18 Aug. 103/1 However nerve-racking or heart-piercing the baby's screams may be, it is far better to let him wait until the right time.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 June 36/3 Both Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story showcase the dazzling energy and heart-piercing emotional intensity of their young characters.
Derivatives
ˈheart-piercingly adv. in a deeply affecting manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > intense emotion > [adverb] > in a deeply affecting manner
to deathOE
to the deatha1375
to the spleen1568
viscerally1637
heart-piercingly1774
1774 Extract Narr. Conversion & Last Illness W. F. 11 He moan'd heart-piercingly.
1881 M. C. Rowsell Jeannette II. iii. 39 With a wail of pain those three last little words broke from her lips, so heart-piercingly, so utter in their desolate agony, that I started.
1996 Deseret News (Salt Lake City) (Nexis) 19 Apr. Emmy-lou's rendition was..heart-piercingly clear.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1590