tragic

[ traj-ik ]

adjective

1. characteristic or suggestive of tragedy:

   tragic solemnity.

   Antonyms: comic

2. extremely mournful, melancholy, or pathetic:

   a tragic plight.

   Synonyms: pitiful

   Antonyms: comic

3. dreadful, calamitous, disastrous, or fatal:

   a tragic event.

   Antonyms: comic

4. of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of tragedy:

   the tragic drama.

5. acting in or writing tragedy:

   a tragic actor; a tragic poet.

noun

1. the tragic, the element or quality of tragedy in literature, art, drama, etc.:

   lives that had never known anything but the tragic.

tragic

/ ˈtrædʒɪk; ˈtrædʒɪkəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of tragedy
2. mournful or pitiable

   a tragic face

Derived Forms

• ˈtragically, adverb

Other Words From

• tragi·cal·ly adverb
• tragi·cal·ness noun
• hyper·tragic adjective
• hyper·tragi·cal adjective
• hyper·tragi·cal·ly adverb
• non·tragic adjective
• non·tragi·cal adjective
• non·tragi·cal·ly adverb
• non·tragi·cal·ness noun
• quasi-tragic adjective
• quasi-tragi·cal·ly adverb
• super·tragic adjective
• super·tragi·cal·ly adverb
• un·tragic adjective
• un·tragi·cal adjective
• un·tragi·cal·ly adverb
• un·tragi·cal·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of tragic¹

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin tragicus, from Greek tragikós “of tragedy,” from trág(os) “goat” + -ikos -ic; tragedy ( def )

Example Sentences

It has had, built into it, deep, horrific, and tragic flaws from the founding.

From Slate

The season finale of “American Sports Story” laid bare the tragic end for Aaron Hernandez, that once promising NFL player.

From Los Angeles Times

But before we shot that, it was pretty much back to back to back, like sad and dark and tragic.

From Los Angeles Times

His friend and former New York City council member, Vincent Ignizio, told the Associated Press the "tragic accident" occurred in September, and that he was currently receiving treatment.

From BBC

“That love element really made this miscarriage really tragic for me and left me with a lot of grief and a lot of suffering. So I put it into a lot of writing,” she told the outlet.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• appalling
• awful
• calamitous
• cataclysmic
• deadly
• deplorable
• destructive
• dire
• disastrous
• dreadful
• fatal
• fateful
• grievous
• grim
• harrowing
• heartbreaking
• miserable
• painful
• pathetic
• pitiful