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tragic

[traj-ik]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

characteristic or suggestive of tragedy: tragic solemnity.

extremely mournful, melancholy, or pathetic: a tragic plight.

dreadful, calamitous, disastrous, or fatal: a tragic event.

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.

EXPAND

the tragic, the element or quality of tragedy in literature, art, drama, etc.: lives that had never known anything but the tragic.

COLLAPSE

Also, trag·i·cal.

Origin:
1535–45; < Latin tragicus < Greek tragikós of tragedy, equivalent to trág(os) goat + -ikos -ic

Related forms

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

EXPAND

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

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
2. distressing, pitiful.

Antonyms
1–3. comic.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To tragic

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Tragic is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Example Sentences

Dawson's tragic death was alluded to, either directly or by implication, in nearly all the city churches to-day.

Tragic events sometimes bring out the best in people.

As resources are not unlimited, it leads to tragic overpopulation, conflict and famine.

EXPAND

Dawson's tragic death was alluded to, either directly or by implication, in nearly all the city churches to-day.

Tragic events sometimes bring out the best in people.

As resources are not unlimited, it leads to tragic overpopulation, conflict and famine.

The warnings were clear, yet the outcome was tragic.

Or maybe she channeled one of the numerous greek tragic plays where someone cuts their tongue out.

The demonic influence exerted over another human is tragic.

As tragic as this food scenario is, however, it's precisely the way many of us drink wine.

Making a business opportunity from recent tragic events, the tech could be used to track students while on campus.

His lasting postcolonial imprint reveals a far more nefarious interest and tragic outcome.

Most tragic of course is the heavy loss of human life and devastation of livelihoods in the affected regions.

In a dramatic turn of events, a tragic explosion strikes the soldiers and film crew.

He turned to top secret military research and led a tragic private life.

Not demonic possession, but a tragic molting accident.

Love triangles and curses result in a tragic ending.

He's the first of three famous brothers to suffer a tragic end.

Hopefully such a tragic and rare event will never occur on my campus.

And what's amusing when it happens to a luggage container is tragic when it involves human life.

Upon closer inspection the tale of the mouse's tragic death came alive.

The article would be laughable if it weren't so tragic.

At age five, she developed the ability to make herself weep while performing tragic poetry.

Dolphin killing receives less attention than whale hunts, but many scientists say their death is every bit as tragic.

We are reacting, individually and collectively, to yet another tragic act of campus violence.

All this suggests that the outbreak of violence may be a tragic blip.

David's own astonishment in learning this tragic fact provided the impetus to begin his own environmental outreach project.

It is truly tragic that the way our educational system is structured can actually inhibit student learning.

The tragic result of this simple prank has made us so emotional and our irrational thinking is driven by anger.

But this tragic story may yet have a positive outcome.

But a pair of killer hurricanes sent prices tumbling and brought a tragic end to the land boom.

Neither patient showed any sign of cancer, which can be a tragic consequence of virus-delivered gene therapy.

It is tragic to be diagnosed and then begin treatments, but that does not absolve a person from meeting responsibilities.

Drugs might be devised to target myelinating glia specifically, offering new possibilities for this tragic disease.

We live in a tragic and terribly dangerous world that is indifferent to individual suffering.

There are many other tragic examples of death by water.

The university also played a high-profile and tragic role in the civil-rights movement.

Change that was tragic only to the degree that it was incomplete.

The floods are tragic beyond words, and the whole world has to open its heart to relieve the suffering of the pooor and infirm.

What a tragic waste of human endeavour when the best solution is staring us in the face.

It is tragic that a great prime minister feels such disgust for much that her government did.

It would be tragic to let these great apes slip away".

Perhaps more important, his colorful, tragic life has overshadowed his accomplishments as an.

It is tragic that this type of situation still happens in workplaces.

Congolese history has had a tragic way of repeating itself.

Colleges have their share of tragic stories, but this is one of the more unusual ones.

Until his family's tragic dissolution in the mid-19th.

Because great gardens take decades to grow, it's all the more tragic when they.

Foxconn has tried to manage perceptions where it can, if not actually confront the oddly tragic trend within the company.

To anyone who lived through the drama of those tragic days and weeks what happened next is seared into their memory.

The links toward the top of the article provide additional information and describe how the story turned tragic the next day.

Poe was often quoted that nothing was as tragic as the death of a beautiful, young woman.

Tesla is a small, tightly-knit company, and this is a tragic day for us.

Two outbreaks of violence could be deemed tragic but coincidental.

In the days before satellites, hundreds of giant ships met tragic ends in these furies.

Added to the burlesque's challenge was the tragic acoustics of the hall.

Libya, with all its cruelty and its tragic violence this week, shows why.

To somehow claim that as expertise would be laughable if it weren't so tragic that a science magazine is doing.

Hopefully, improved safety measures will mean less chance of tragic accidents.

Having a rock being thrown off a cliff with carelessness and the disregard of its tragic consequences is criminal.

It is tragic to have to kill so many trees in order to stop the infestation from spreading.

The tragic heroes keep making new mistakes that compound their original mistakes.

America admires success and has limited use for figures who represent tragic failure.

Inadequate resources, poor coordination, and bureaucratic inertia or a failure to heed warnings can have tragic consequences.

But¿it will be tragic if this outrage spills over into the legitimate medical¿research that could cure millions of patients".

Most people who read a handful of words about a friend's heartache, or see a link to a tragic story, would likely follow it.

On the one hand, it is tragic that students died of a heroin overdose.

She also features the faces of bears that make for folklore and occasional tragic realities.

It remains an open question how prevalent such a tragic condition-aware yet utterly uncommunicative-is.

These folks sound so nice, and these are such inspiring stories with such a tragic ending.

The loss of these invertebrates themselves would be tragic.

Hmmm, these kinds of epidemics are tragic and if people want to try to stave them off in various ways that is their choice.

Let me begin by stating that my purpose in writing is not to blame the victims of this senseless and tragic shooting.

And moreover, if the author was killed in a tragic manner it would win zillion hearts.

It is tragic that humans have mistreated each other so much in the past.

In my view it is a tragic aspect of the human condition that will someday be resolved.

It is somewhat tragic that she and the attorneys advising her seem unable or unwilling to recognize this distinction.

The bullfrog tried to cross the road, with tragic messy results.

These tragic news events remind all of us about the relativity and uncertainty of our safety.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

tragic or tragical (ˈtrædʒɪk, ˈtrædʒɪk^əl)

—*adj*
1.	of, relating to, or characteristic of tragedy
2.	mournful or pitiable: a tragic face

tragical or tragical

—*adj*

'tragically or tragical

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

tragic

1540s, "calamitous, disastrous, fatal," shortened from tragical (late 15c.), modeled on L. tragicus, from Gk. tragikos "of or pertaining to tragedy," lit. "of or pertaining to a goat," and probably referring to a satyr impersonated by a goat singer or satyric actor (see

EXPAND

tragedy). Tragic flaw (1913) translates Gk. hamartia.

COLLAPSE

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"It's one of the tragic ironies of the theater that only one man in it can count on steady work—the night watchman."

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