crushing

crushing — adjective

1. extremely severe or harmful in a way that feels overwhelming and difficult to be

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

extremely severe or harmful in a way that feels overwhelming and difficult to bear or recover from

Example

A crushing sense of loneliness settled over Zola when she moved to a new city.

collocation: crushing sense of [emotion]

The hurricane delivered a crushing blow to the island's fishing communities.

collocation: crushing blow

Common collocations
  • crushing blow
  • crushing defeat
  • crushing pressure
  • crushing weight
  • crushing sense of guilt / loneliness / disappointment
Synonyms
  • devastating

    stronger emotional impact, often used for news or events that cause deep sadness

  • overwhelming

    focuses on the feeling of being unable to cope due to the scale or intensity

  • severe

    more neutral and formal; broader in use and less emotionally charged

Antonyms
  • minor

    opposite in degree of severity — a minor setback vs a crushing defeat

  • gentle

    opposite in intensity — gentle criticism vs crushing criticism

Usage Note

Frequently appears before nouns such as 'blow', 'defeat', 'pressure', 'weight', and 'sense' to intensify the severity of a situation. Less common as a complement after linking verbs.

Common Mistakes

The box fell and gave a crushing sound.
The box fell and made a loud crashing sound.
'crushing' describes a severe emotional or situational impact, not a literal physical crushing noise.

Word family

  • crush
    verbB1
  • crush
    nounB2
  • crushed
    adjectiveB2
  • crusher
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All three words describe something intensely negative, but they differ in scope and emotional weight. 'Crushing' emphasises the pressure or weight of a situation that feels impossible to resist or recover from — like a heavy physical force pressing down. 'Devastating' is more about emotional wreckage and destruction; a devastating event leaves you shocked and heartbroken. 'Overwhelming' focuses on quantity or intensity that exceeds your ability to cope — an overwhelming amount of work or an overwhelming sense of joy (it can be positive). 'Severe' is the most neutral and formal of the group; it describes high degree or intensity without the emotional colouring of the others. A severe punishment is harsh by the rules; a crushing punishment leaves the person destroyed.

devastating ↗overwhelming ↗severe ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

Old FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

'Crushing' comes from the verb 'crush', which entered English in the 14th century from Old French 'croissir' (to break, smash). The adjective form appeared in the 1500s to describe literal physical force, and by the 1800s it had developed its modern figurative meaning — describing a situation or emotion that feels as severe and inescapable as being physically pressed down.