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.
However, his time at Radcliffe included a tragic incident when a car he was driving collided with an oncoming cattle truck in Staffordshire.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
“Remake” has a tragic tale to tell and director Ross McElwee wastes no time revealing its grieving heart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
But with every dramatic landslide and tragic death along the coast, officials have turned to scientists for help.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
The senator’s own father died of a heart attack at 69 when Graham was 22 — pointing to a family history of cardiovascular disease that likely made Saturday night’s outcome tragic, but not inexplicable.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
They ended up sprawled on the bakehouse floor, a tragic tangle of limbs.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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.
