tragedy
Syllables: trag·e·dyUK/ˈtɹæd͡ʒ.ɪ.di//ˈtɹæd͡ʒ.ɪ.di/
tragedy noun: a drama or similar work, in which the main character is brought to ruin or otherwise suffers the extreme consequences of some tragic flaw or weakness of character.
Noun
tragedy (countable and uncountable, plural tragedies)
- A drama or similar work, in which the main character is brought to ruin or otherwise suffers the extreme consequences of some tragic flaw or weakness of character.
- Antonyms:
- comedy
- The genre of such works, and the art of producing them.
- Antonyms:
- comedy
- A disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury.
- “The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely...1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition...
- We saw a farmhouse burning down in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. And we rolled right past that tragedy 'till we turned into some road house lights.1976, “Coyote”, in Hejira, performed by Joni Mitchell
tragedy meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
tragedy in Hindi
- drama or similar work
- दुखांत dukhānt, त्रासदी trāsdī
- disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury
- त्रासदी trāsdī, दुर्घटना durghaṭnā, हादसा hādsā, आफ़त āfat, मुसीबत musībat
tragedy in Tamil
- பெருந்துன்பம், அவலம், துன்பியல்
tragedy in Marathi
- शोकांतिका
tragedy in Urdu
- genre of such works, and the art of producing them
- اَلَمِیَہ alamiya
- disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury
- حادِثَہ hādisa, سانِحَہ sāniha, آفَت āfat, مُصِیبَت musībat
More languagesFewer languages
- tragedy in Bengali
- মৃতু্যঘটিত ব্যাপার
- tragedy in Telugu
- విషాదం
- tragedy in Malayalam
- ദുരന്തം durantaṁ
- tragedy in Kannada
- ಕೊರಗುವ ಕೊನೆ, ಸೊಮ್ಮು ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಕೊನೆ, ಅಳುಗೊನೆ, ದುರಂತ ನಾಟಕ
- tragedy in Punjabi
- ਦੁਖਾਂਤ
- tragedy in Gujarati
- કરૂણાંતિકા, કરૂણાંતિકતા
- tragedy in Odia
- ବିଯ଼ୋଗାନ୍ତ ଘଟଣା
- tragedy in Nepali
- त्रासदी
- tragedy in Pashto
- فاجعه fāje'a, آفت āfát, مصيبت mosibát
- tragedy in Tagalog
- trahedya, kalunusan
- tragedy in Arabic
- مَأْسَاة maʔsāh, تْرَاجِيدْيَا trājīdyā, فَاجِعَة fājiʕa, مُصِيبَة muṣība
- tragedy in Malay
- tragedi, nahas
- tragedy in Indonesian
- tragedi
- tragedy in Thai
- โศกนาฏกรรม sòok-gà-nâat-dtà-gam
- tragedy in Vietnamese
- bi kịch
Examples of tragedy in a sentence
- “The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved.1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher...
- The tragedy took more than one hundred lives[…]2015 August 25, Julia Keller, Last Ragged Breath: A Novel, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 153:
- After the terrible tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911, which killed 146 New York garment workers, proper fire drilling was considered a necessity.2015, Alison Matthews David, Fashion Victims: The Damages of Dress Past and Present, →ISBN, page 142:
Antonyms of tragedy
Forms of tragedy
| plural | tragedies |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | tragœdy |
| alternative form (obsolete) | tragoedy |
| alternative form (obsolete) | tragœdie |
| alternative form (obsolete) | tragoedie |
| alternative form (obsolete) | tragedie |
Origin of tragedy
From the Middle English tragedie, from the Old French tragedie, from the Latin tragoedia, from the Ancient Greek τραγῳδία (tragōidía, “epic play, tragedy”), from τράγος (trágos, “male goat”) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”), possibly a reference to the goat-satyrs of the theatrical plays of the Dorians, or according to Beekes possibly to a goat given as prize, though the etymology remains uncertain.
Words formed from tragedy
Phrases with tragedy
Questions about tragedy
- What does tragedy mean?
- Tragedy means a drama or similar work, in which the main character is brought to ruin or otherwise suffers the extreme consequences of some tragic flaw or weakness of character.
- What is tragedy in Hindi?
- Tragedy in Hindi is दुखांत (dukhānt), त्रासदी (trāsdī), दुर्घटना (durghaṭnā). See Tragedy meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use tragedy in a sentence?
- “The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved.
- What part of speech is tragedy?
- Tragedy is a noun.
- How do you pronounce tragedy?
- Tragedy is pronounced /ˈtɹæd͡ʒ.ɪ.di/ (UK).
- What is the plural of tragedy?
- The plural of tragedy is tragedies.
Words near tragedy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tragedy (page history and authors); tragedy (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tragedy (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tragedy (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tragedy (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ദുരന്തം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); tragedy (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tragedy (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tragedy (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tragedy (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tragedy (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-tragedy.ogg.
Cite this entry: “tragedy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tragedy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.