tragedian

[ truh-jee-dee-uhn ]

noun

1. an actor especially noted for performing tragic roles.
2. a writer of tragedy.

tragedian

/ trəˈdʒiːdɪən; trəˌdʒiːdɪˈɛn /

noun

1. an actor who specializes in tragic roles
2. a writer of tragedy

Word History and Origins

Origin of tragedian¹

1325–75; tragedy + -an; replacing Middle English tragedien < Middle French

Example Sentences

Okonedo is herself a world-class tragedian, as she proved not so long ago in an “Antony and Cleopatra” at the National, opposite Ralph Fiennes and directed by Simon Godwin.

From Washington Post

As Laurence, a Senegalese philosophy student on trial in France for killing her daughter, Guslagie Malanda provides a performance as cathartic as any Greek tragedian’s: so precise, so hard-boiled, so controlled in its torment that a monstrous crime opens onto unplumbed depths.

From New York Times

I had a hard time taking seriously the tragedian togas, masks and wigs — I felt like I was stuck watching classics majors putting on an overambitious, reworked “Oresteia,” and as fanciful as the costumes are, my interest waned.

From New York Times

She had a real tragedian spirit.

From Seattle Times

Just as the Greek tragedian zeroed in on moments of choice and free will in the plots of characters circumscribed by fate, so Giddens and Abels look for moments of freedom in the lives of characters denied this basic human right.

From Los Angeles Times