tragicomedy

American  

[traj-i-kom-i-dee] / ˌtrædʒ ɪˈkɒm ɪ di /

noun

• tragicomedies
  plural

1. a dramatic or other literary composition combining elements of both tragedy and comedy.

2. an incident, or series of incidents, of mixed tragic and comic character.

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tragicomedy British  

/ ˌtrædʒɪˈkɒmɪdɪ /

noun

1. 1. a drama in which aspects of both tragedy and comedy are found

   2. the dramatic genre of works of this kind

2. an event or incident having both comic and tragic aspects

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tragicomic
  adjective
• tragicomical
  adjective
• tragicomically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tragicomedies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of tragicomedy

1570–80; < Late Latin tragicōmoedia, syncopated variant of Latin tragicocōmoedia. See tragic, -o-, comedy

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Explanation

A play that blends elements of both tragedy and comedy is known as a tragicomedy. The remarkable thing about a tragicomedy is that it can make you laugh and cry. A tragicomedy might be a serious drama interspersed with funny moments that periodically lighten the mood, or a drama that has a happy ending. The Roman playwright Plautus is usually credited with coining the term in his play Amphitryon, when the character Mercury says, of a play-within-a-play featuring both gods and servants, "I will make it a mixture: let it be a tragicomedy."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tragicomedy tragicomedies

The refreshingly traditional staging of the tragicomedy at the Delacorte Theater stars Raúl Esparza and Lily Rabe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

The season begins with a new production of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s tragicomedy “The Visit,” directed by Tony Award winner Darko Tresnjak and starring Jefferson Mays.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026

His breakthrough came with the overnight success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead", a tragicomedy centred around two minor characters from Shakespeare's "Hamlet".

From Barron's ● Nov. 29, 2025

In the birthplace of Western drama, a classic night unfolded from around the hour-mark, in Greece and in Copenhagen, a tragicomedy and a mystery and a farce.

From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2025

And loyal confederates, Hamlet and I never revealed that we were authors of this tragicomedy.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

With their sly humor, the works, in the end, are tragicomedies.

From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2021

The snobby film historian in me wanted to correct her, to find all of those instances of tragicomedies that anticipated Brooks’ film.

From Slate ● May 4, 2021

Nguyen cites Shakespearean tragicomedies and Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels as inspirations for “The Sympathizer” and “The Committed.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2021

His biting tragicomedies about romance, racism, workaday angst and trying to feel at home in the world keep coming back — as they should.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 29, 2019

In fact, Dryden was still writing and pleasing audiences with tragicomedies that contained the ingredients of the old heroic tragedy.

From The Female Wits by Anonymous

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