Dolorific

/ˌdɒləˈrɪfɪk/ adjective

Definition

Causing or producing pain, sorrow, or distress; characterized by grief or suffering.

Etymology

From Latin dolor (pain) + -fic (making/causing); a rare word formed in learned English during the 17th-18th centuries.

Kelly Says

Medieval and Renaissance writers used 'dolorific' to describe situations that caused emotional pain—it's the feeling-based cousin of the physical 'pain-producing' sense.

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