tragic

[traj-ik]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tragic ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

characteristic or suggestive of tragedy: tragic solemnity.

extremely mournful, melancholy, or pathetic: a tragic plight.

dreadful, calamitous, disastrous, or fatal: a tragic event.

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

the tragic, the element or quality of tragedy in literature, art, drama, etc.: lives that had never known anything but the tragic.

Sometimes trag·i·cal (for defs 1–3).

Origin of tragic

1535–45; < Latin tragicus < Greek tragikós of tragedy, equivalent to trág(os) goat + -ikos -ic

Related formstrag·i·cal·ly, adverbtrag·i·cal·ness, nounhy·per·trag·ic, adjectivehy·per·trag·i·cal, adjectivehy·per·trag·i·cal·ly, adverbnon·trag·ic, adjectivenon·trag·i·cal, adjectivenon·trag·i·cal·ly, adverbnon·trag·i·cal·ness, nounqua·si-trag·ic, adjectivequa·si-trag·i·cal·ly, adverbsu·per·trag·ic, adjectivesu·per·trag·i·cal·ly, adverbun·trag·ic, adjectiveun·trag·i·cal, adjectiveun·trag·i·cal·ly, adverbun·trag·i·cal·ness, noun

Synonyms for tragic

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tragic ON THESAURUS.COM

2. distressing, pitiful.

Antonyms for tragic

1–3. comic.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tragic

sad, fateful, miserable, dreadful, deadly, calamitous, unfortunate, pitiful, fatal, harrowing, painful, grievous, pathetic, cataclysmic, disastrous, dire, awful, destructive, grim, terrible

Examples from the Web for tragic

Contemporary Examples of tragic

Within minutes, it seems, of the disclosures of these tragic events, large numbers of people chose a side and stuck to it.
In 2015, Let’s Try for More Compassion
Gene Robinson
January 4, 2015
Your death is a tragic bookend to a year touted as the “transgender tipping point.”
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen
Parker Molloy
January 1, 2015
Still, I worry that a simple traffic stop could have tragic consequences.
What Would Happen if I Got in White Cop’s Face?
Goldie Taylor
December 30, 2014
There are plenty of tragic and inspiring choices, but the most obvious legacy Castro will leave behind is the broken family.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind
Brin-Jonathan Butler
December 19, 2014
“This is tragic because nobody needs good policing more than poorer neighborhoods with higher crime rates,” Obama said.
Darren Wilson Wasn’t Indicted—the System Was
Michael Daly
November 25, 2014

Historical Examples of tragic

These excepted, the only survivors of this tragic scene were Capts.
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion
William Dobein James
And before her, always, she saw the tragic women of the wards.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Now he had a son, and the child's mother looked at him with tragic eyes.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
It is tragic how few people ever ‘possess their souls’ before they die.
De Profundis
Oscar Wilde
That is not such a tragic thing as possibly it sounds to you.
De Profundis
Oscar Wilde

British Dictionary definitions for tragic

tragic

less commonly tragical (ˈtrædʒɪkəl)

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of tragedy

mournful or pitiablea tragic face

Derived Formstragically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tragic

adj.

1540s, "calamitous, disastrous, fatal," shortened from tragical (late 15c.), modeled on Latin tragicus, from Greek tragikos "of or pertaining to tragedy," literally "of or pertaining to a goat," and probably referring to a satyr impersonated by a goat singer or satyric actor (see tragedy). Tragic flaw (1913) translates Greek hamartia.