tragicomediann.
/ˌtradʒɪkəˈmiːdɪən/, U.S. /ˌtrædʒəkəˈmidiən/ An actor who performs in a tragicomedy; (also) a comedian whose performances contain serious or sombre elements; (occasionally also) a writer or composer of tragicomedies. Also figurative (cf. tragicomedy n. 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > actor > [noun] > actor in specific type of play
comedy player1550
tragedy player1552
comediant1568
tragic1577
tragedian1590
comedian1603
comic1619
interludera1627
pastorista1627
tragicomediana1627
tragedy actor1690
low comedian1740
tragedy man1784
exodiary1793
farcer1813
monopolylogist1830
stock actor1839
beneficiaire1841
monologuist1853
monologist1858
burlesquer1869
opera-bouffer1870
low comedy1885
knockabout1887
farceur1889
folk-player1936
a1627 T. Middleton Mayor of Quinborough (1661) v. i. 62 Comedians, Tragedians, Tragi-Comedians.
1681 ‘Philopatris’ Plot in Dream ii. 29 He pretends himself a Tragi-comedian, and acts both Iest and Earnest.
1728 J. Ralph Touch-stone iii. 112 The English (those Tragi-Comedians of the World).
1756 J. Buller Reply to Rev. Mr. Wesley 24 Mr. W——f——ld's Company of Tragi-Comedians.
1840 Monthly Mag. Apr. 429 It [sc. the cabinet] has become like the dirty stage of some penny theatre—a mere hustings on which a crowd of rival tragi-comedians thrust one another in and out.
1976 E. J. Dent Rise Romantic Opera (1979) iii. 46 There exists..a type of Italian tragi-comedian..who is Romantic and melodramatic, but at the same time fundamentally comic in the broad old-fashioned way.
1994 Financial Times 12 Oct. 25/4 (headline) Russia's tragicomedian. Boris Yeltsin's antics could backfire.
1998 N.Y. Times 6 Feb. b4/6 A witty, nutty choreographer whose dances dart quickly in and out of family history, performed by a choice company of deadpan tragicomedians.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1627