tragic flaw
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of tragic flaw
First recorded in 1950–55
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.
But Mungo loves Mo-Maw unconditionally; it’s his nature, his tragic flaw.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 5, 2022
In this telling, Coriolanus’ overestimation of her own savvy is a tragic flaw.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2017
It might have been Tressel’s tragic flaw to love not wisely but too well, seeing his players as his children and himself as the person best positioned to discipline them.
From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2016
These guys’ tragic flaw, if you want to put it in grand and mythical terms, was the need to be famous or be loved.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2016
He couldn’t easily promulgate it, though, because he had a tragic flaw: a severe speech impediment, perhaps a stutter.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
