tragic

Sometimes trag·i·cal

[traj-ik]

adjective

1. characteristic or suggestive of tragedy.

   tragic solemnity.

   Antonyms: comic

2. extremely mournful, melancholy, or pathetic.

   a tragic plight.

   Synonyms: pitiful
   Antonyms: comic

3. dreadful, calamitous, disastrous, or fatal.

   a tragic event.

   Antonyms: comic

4. of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of tragedy.

   the tragic drama.

5. acting in or writing tragedy.

   a tragic actor; a tragic poet.

noun

1. the tragic, the element or quality of tragedy in literature, art, drama, etc..

   lives that had never known anything but the tragic.

tragic

/ ˈtrædʒɪk, ˈtrædʒɪkəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of tragedy

2. mournful or pitiable

   a tragic face

Other Word Forms

• tragically adverb
• tragicalness noun
• hypertragic adjective
• hypertragical adjective
• hypertragically adverb
• nontragic adjective
• nontragical adjective
• nontragically adverb
• nontragicalness noun
• quasi-tragic adjective
• quasi-tragically adverb
• supertragic adjective
• supertragically adverb
• untragic adjective
• untragical adjective
• untragically adverb
• untragicalness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of tragic¹

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin tragicus, from Greek tragikós “of tragedy,” from trág(os) “goat” + -ikos -ic; tragedy ( def. )

Example Sentences

“I loved having her in class. It’s a tragic loss.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Afghans living in the US have condemned Wednesday's "deeply tragic" deadly shooting attack in Washington DC, while stressing that the suspect - who moved to the US from Afghanistan four years ago - does not represent them.

Read more on BBC

The last Jews left Gaza City in 1929 during the riots that engulfed British-controlled Mandatory Palestine that year, ending a history shaped by the tragic events that plagued this repeatedly destroyed city.

Read more on Barron's

Sophocles himself might have approved the tragic symmetry.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Twenty-five years on, Damilola is remembered not only for the tragic way his life ended, but for the hope and determination he continues to inspire.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• appalling 
• awful 
• calamitous 
• cataclysmic 
• deadly 
• deplorable 
• destructive 
• dire 
• disastrous 
• dreadful 
• fatal 
• fateful 
• grievous 
• grim 
• harrowing 
• heartbreaking 
• miserable 
• painful 
• pathetic 
• pitiful