tragic

English

Alternative forms

• tragick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek τραγικός (tragikos, “of or relating to tragedy”), from τράγος (tragos, “male goat”), a reference to the goat-satyrs of the theatrical plays of the Dorians.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtrædʒɪk/
• Rhymes: -ædʒɪk

Adjective

tragic (comparative more tragic, superlative most tragic)

1. Causing great sadness or suffering.
   • 2012 March-April, Jan Sapp, “Race Finished”, American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 164: 

     Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?

2. Relating to tragedy in a literary work.
3. (in tabloid newspapers) Involved in a tragedy.
   • 2008, Search for tragic Madeleine McCann over (in The Daily Telegraph of Australia, 14 February 2008) [1]
   • 2012, Gary Meneely, Keano’s tribute to tragic James (in The Irish Sun, 25 June 2012) [2]

Derived terms

• tragic flaw

Related terms

• tragicomic
• tragical
• tragically

Translations

causing great sadness

• Catalan: tràgic
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 悲剧的 (zh), bēijù de; 悲痛的 (zh), bēitòng de

• Czech: tragický
• Dutch: tragisch (nl)
• Esperanto: tragika
• Finnish: murheellinen, traaginen
• French: tragique (fr)
• Galician: tráxico
• German: tragisch (de)

• Hebrew: טרגי (trági)
• Hungarian: tragikus (hu)
• Icelandic: sorglegur (is)
• Italian: tragico (it)
• Japanese: 悲惨 (ja) (hisan)
• Navajo: hóyééʼ
• Portuguese: trágico m
• Russian: трагический (ru) (tragíčeskij)
• Spanish: trágico (es) m

relating to tragedy

• Catalan: tràgic
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 写悲剧的 (zh), xiě bēijù de; 演悲剧的 (zh), yǎn bēijù de

• Dutch: tragisch (nl)
• Finnish: traaginen
• French: tragique (fr)
• Galician: tráxico

• German: tragisch (de)
• Hebrew: טרגי (trági)
• Hungarian: tragikus (hu)
• Italian: tragico (it)
• Japanese: 悲劇の (ja) (higeki no)
• Portuguese: trágico m
• Russian: трагический (ru) (tragíčeskij)
• Spanish: trágico (es) m

Noun

tragic (plural tragics)

1. (obsolete) A writer of tragedy.
2. (obsolete) A tragedy; a tragic drama.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.