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
- hypertragic adjective
- hypertragical adjective
- hypertragically adverb
- nontragic adjective
- nontragical adjective
- nontragically adverb
- nontragicalness noun
- quasi-tragic adjective
- quasi-tragically adverb
- supertragic adjective
- supertragically adverb
- tragically adverb
- tragicalness noun
- untragic adjective
- untragical adjective
- untragically adverb
- untragicalness noun
Etymology
Origin of tragic
First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin tragicus, from Greek tragikós “of tragedy,” from trág(os) “goat” + -ikos -ic; tragedy ( def. )
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.
The recent cases have only amplified calls for urgent reform of Nigeria's health sector to prevent other patients from becoming tragic symbols of a national crisis.
From BBC
Tell me all you can about how the Pickled Onion’s husband came to his tragic end, if you feel that you won’t put anyone in danger.
From Literature
“The paltry percentage of the total that these men will realize, especially in light of the hundreds of millions of dollars of professional fees that have resulted from this bankruptcy, is beyond tragic.”
He warned people to "be mindful of sharing footage on social media given the impact this will have on all the families involved in such a tragic incident".
From BBC
Legxacy is a mercurial figure – a musical polymath, defiantly original, who has largely stopped speaking in public, partly due to the tragic backstory behind his latest mixtape.
From BBC
Definitions 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.
