tragicomedy

[ traj-i-kom-i-dee ]
See synonyms for: tragicomedytragicomic on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural trag·i·com·e·dies.
  1. a dramatic or other literary composition combining elements of both tragedy and comedy.

  2. an incident, or series of incidents, of mixed tragic and comic character.

Origin of tragicomedy

1
1570–80; <Late Latin tragicōmoedia, syncopated variant of Latin tragicocōmoedia.See tragic, -o-, comedy

Other words from tragicomedy

  • trag·i·com·ic [traj-i-kom-ik], /ˌtrædʒ ɪˈkɒm ɪk/, trag·i·com·i·cal, adjective
  • trag·i·com·i·cal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby tragicomedy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tragicomedy in a sentence

  • The tragicomedy of U.S. politics is that we really do get the government we deserve.

  • Canada in the West has all races, and it was consistent of me to give a Chinaman of noble birth a part to play in the tragicomedy.

  • The distinctions between tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, and romantic comedy often become barely discernible.

    Tragedy | Ashley H. Thorndike
  • For a time it is mainly confined to romantic comedy, but it soon enters into tragedy and tragicomedy.

    Tragedy | Ashley H. Thorndike
  • At the opening of the theatres, tragedy and tragicomedy took up their courses about where they had left off.

    Tragedy | Ashley H. Thorndike
  • This tragicomedy, as Lamb called it, in two acts, is slighter than "Woodvil" and even less adapted to the stage.

    Tragedy | Ashley H. Thorndike

British Dictionary definitions for tragicomedy

tragicomedy

/ (ˌtrædʒɪˈkɒmɪdɪ) /


nounplural -dies
    • a drama in which aspects of both tragedy and comedy are found

    • the dramatic genre of works of this kind

  1. an event or incident having both comic and tragic aspects

Origin of tragicomedy

1
C16: from French, ultimately from Late Latin tragicōmoedia; see tragedy, comedy

Derived forms of tragicomedy

  • tragicomic or tragicomical, adjective
  • tragicomically, 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