tragic Hear it!

tragic Definition

tragic (trajik)

adjective

  1. of, or having the nature of, tragedy
  2. like or characteristic of tragedy; bringing great harm, suffering, etc.; calamitous, disastrous, fatal, etc.
  3. appropriate to the acting of tragedy in a tragic voice
  4. writing or acting in tragedy
Also tragical trag′i·cal

Etymology: L tragicus < Gr tragikos

noun

the tragic element in art or life

Related Forms:

tragic Synonyms

tragic

modif.

tragic Usage Examples

Preposition: that

  • people: It is tragic that 5m people a year in developing countries die of communicable diseases.

Modifies a noun

  • death: The 1998 canal tour was cut short due to the tragic death of John Fleming.
  • accident: A tragic accident had closed the tunnel in November 2001.
  • consequence: They fail to predict the effects of drugs with tragic consequences.
  • fate: She emphasized Trotsky's tragic fate, seeing the death of all his children.
  • irony: Pick out some phrases that demonstrate " tragic irony " .
  • tale: They tell simple, sometimes tragic tales of everyday life.

Modifying Another Word

  • ultimately: The ad shows a collision between a motorcyclist and a car, from both perspectives, with ultimately tragic results.
  • potentially: And Doris's obsession with tidying up has potentially tragic repercussions.
  • utterly: As for Jerusalem, it is so utterly tragic that they cannot find a solution to the conflict.
  • truly: We no longer have any feeling for what is truly tragic.
  • deeply: The regular Mogul stars are joined tonight by Ronald Fraser in a brilliant performance which is both immensely funny and deeply tragic.
  • essentially: Tar and Gemma's teenage years are essentially tragic: Burgess warns how this could be avoided.

Infinitive complement

    Used with adjective complement

    • seem: It seemed tragic that such a little gem was hidden from general view by an overgrown hedge.
    • prove: Parliament's rejection of his bill proved tragic for both Great Britain and Ireland.
    • make: His death was made more tragic by the fact that he was killed during the unofficial Christmas truce of 1914.
    • become: The alienated situation of the African in his own society becomes tragic.

    Preposition: in

    • sense: Tragic in the sense that behind each painting is both a portentousness and a sense of mortality.

    Preposition: of

    • circumstance: Even the most tragic of circumstance is marshaled in the attempt to educate and fascinate.
tragic Quotes

Ours is essentiallya tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.

—Lawrence, D(avid) H(erbert)

   You see tragedy requires persons of heroic stature. It works on the principle of people being more than humanösuper-humanöand also being only too human. But there just aren't many great figures around now, so the tragic mechanisms can't work.

—Amis, Martin Louis

The product oftheartist hasbecome less importantthan the fact of the artist.We wish to absorb this person.We wish to devour someone who has experienced the tragic.Inour society thisperson ismuchmore important than anything he might create.

—Mamet, David Alan