Heartbreaking describes a thing that makes you feel extremely sad or disappointed. The news, the photograph, the ending, the last minute of the match — those can be heartbreaking. The word sits on what causes the pain, not on the person who feels it. You are not heartbreaking; you are heartbroken. It is a strong adjective. People use it for real grief — a child lost, a friendship ruined, a hope that dies in front of you — and, more loosely, for sad films or a shop that closes. Though actually, everyday talk stretches it: It's heartbreaking that they cancelled the trip may only mean I am really sorry, not that someone is destroyed. Even then, it is more than sad. You will also hear heartbreaking as a noun in older or more literary English for the act or fact of breaking a heart, but the adjective is the one learners will meet again and again. The adverb is heartbreakingly.