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tragic

 - 3 dictionary results

trag⋅ic

  [traj-ik]
Use tragic in a Sentence
–adjective
1. characteristic or suggestive of tragedy: tragic solemnity.
2. extremely mournful, melancholy, or pathetic: a tragic plight.
3. dreadful, calamitous, disastrous, or fatal: a tragic event.
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.
6. the tragic, the element or quality of tragedy in literature, art, drama, etc.: lives that had never known anything but the tragic.
Also, trag⋅i⋅cal.

Origin:
1535–45; < L tragicus < Gk tragikós of tragedy, equiv. to trág(os) goat + -ikos -ic

Related forms:
trag⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
trag⋅i⋅cal⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
2. distressing, pitiful.

Antonyms:
1–3. comic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To tragic
trag·ic   (trāj'ĭk)   
adj.  

  1. Relating to or characteristic of dramatic tragedy or tragedies: tragic plays; the tragic hero.

  2. Writing or performing in tragedy: a tragic poet.

  3. Having the elements of tragedy; involving death, grief, or destruction: a tragic accident.


[Latin tragicus, from Greek tragikos, from tragos, goat.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

tragic 
1545, "calamitous, disastrous, fatal," shortened from tragical (1489), 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 tragedy).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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