tragic
Americanadjective
-
characteristic or suggestive of tragedy.
tragic solemnity.
- Antonyms:
- comic
-
extremely mournful, melancholy, or pathetic.
a tragic plight.
- Synonyms:
- pitiful
- Antonyms:
- comic
-
dreadful, calamitous, disastrous, or fatal.
a tragic event.
- Antonyms:
- comic
-
of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of tragedy.
the tragic drama.
-
acting in or writing tragedy.
a tragic actor; a tragic poet.
noun
adjective
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of tragedy
-
mournful or pitiable
a tragic face
Other Word Forms
-
nontragicalnessnoun
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tragicalnessnoun
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untragicalnessnoun
-
hypertragicadjective
-
hypertragicaladjective
-
nontragicadjective
-
nontragicaladjective
-
quasi-tragicadjective
-
supertragicadjective
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untragicadjective
-
untragicaladjective
-
hypertragicallyadverb
-
nontragicallyadverb
-
quasi-tragicallyadverb
-
supertragicallyadverb
-
tragicallyadverb
-
untragicallyadverb
Etymology
Origin of tragic
First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin tragicus, from Greek tragikós “of tragedy,” from trág(os) “goat” + -ikos -ic; see tragedy ( def. )
Explanation
Tragic means sad on a grand scale. Rain on your parade? Sad. Weeks of rain leading to the destruction of a small town and the lives of those in it? Tragic. Though the word tragic has come to be used for common sorrows, it's best reserved for the kind of sad, unavoidable situations that Shakespeare would have written about. In a staged tragedy, the main character comes to a sad end due to his or her one tragic flaw –– this lead is called a tragic hero.
Vocabulary lists containing tragic
Unit 1: Telling Details
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The Tale of Despereaux
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The Wednesday Wars
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of beloved actor, philanthropist, and passionate disability rights advocate RJ Mitte,” Mitte’s representatives said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
The African Union Commission chairman expressed his "profound sorrow over the tragic loss of life" in a statement.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
The epistemic mismatch between her idea of what would transpire and the frat brothers’ is truly tragic.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
He has played gangsters, soldiers, policemen, politicians, patriots, villains, comic characters and tragic figures, while moving between Hindi and Marathi cinema and sometimes also working behind the camera as a director and writer.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
From Raizel, I learned that it had been dismissed as a tragic accident.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
