tragedian

[truh-jee-dee-uhn]

noun

1. an actor especially noted for performing tragic roles.

2. a writer of tragedy.

tragedian

/ trəˈdʒiːdɪən, trəˌdʒiːdɪˈɛn /

noun

1. an actor who specializes in tragic roles

2. a writer of tragedy

Word History and Origins

Origin of tragedian¹

1325–75; tragedy + -an; replacing Middle English tragedien < Middle French

Example Sentences

She is, however, a compelling tragedian — a teen who matures before our eyes into a force of nature.

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By the 4th century BCE, Athenian orators even quoted lines from the tragedians in court, knowing that jurors “liked quotations from tragedy,” in one scholar’s words.

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Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov, Beckett, the ancient Greek tragedians and Tennessee Williams were among the voices who originally called out to me.

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Among the tragedians, there are extant works from only three: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.

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If the best description of a play had been coined centuries earlier by Shakespeare or a Greek tragedian, Scully would not shy from quoting the master.

Read more on Washington Post