anguishing

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an·guish

(ăng′gwĭsh)

Agonizing physical or mental pain; torment. See Synonyms at regret.

v. an·guished, an·guish·ing, an·guish·es

v.tr.

To cause to feel or suffer anguish.

v.intr.

To feel or suffer anguish.

[Middle English angwisshe, from Old French anguisse, from Latin angustiae, distress, from angustus, narrow; see angh- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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anguishing

adjective

Extraordinarily painful or distressing:

agonizing, excruciating, harrowing, tormenting, torturous.

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The anguishing but rather rearguard horror of Bhopal (though, yes, it must be acknowledged that evil, like rust, never sleeps) gives way to a visit to Angkor Wat and an upsetting replay of the demonic Pol Pot regime in Cambodia.