tragictra‧gic /ˈtrædʒɪk/ ●●○ adjective 
The parents were not to blame for the tragic death of their son. Lillian Board’s death at 22 was a tragic loss for British athletics.2[only before noun] relating to tragedy in books or plays OPP comic: a great tragic actortragic hero (=the main person in a tragedy)
WORD ORIGINtragic
Origin:
1500-1600 Latin tragicus, from Greek tragikos, from tragoidia; ➔ TRAGEDYEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Both sisters died in a tragic car accident.
- But here Golding offers the extremest instance of how it might be tragic too.
- Her face was often thoughtful, and there was sometimes a tragic note in her voice.
- In a tragic twist of irony, Goldberg was taken seriously.
- Surely nothing in the world could be more tragic than that?
- They were to figure prominently among the more tragic case histories.
- This trend has already had plenty of tragic consequences.
- To Callahan, application of industrial methods to the schools had tragic consequences.
Longman Language Activatorcausing a lot of destruction or suffering
· A disastrous fire destroyed much of the city in the early 1900s.· Much of the damage wrought by the disastrous three-day storm was still apparent.disastrous consequences · There was a fault in the engine design, which had disastrous consequences.
causing terrible destruction and suffering and many deaths, over a wide area: · The flooding was catastrophic, killing hundreds of people and leaving thousands homeless.· The destruction of the world's rain forests could have a catastrophic influence on the earth's climate.
causing great suffering and sadness: · The President referred to Friday's air disaster as a "tragic loss of life".
WORD SETSacrostic, nounadapt, verballiteration, nounanagram, nounannual, nounanthology, nounantihero, nounapologia, nounappendix, nounassonance, nounauthorship, nounautobiography, nounballad, nounbard, nounbathos, nounbiography, nounblank verse, nounbowdlerize, verbburlesque, nouncaesura, nouncameo, nouncanon, nouncanto, nouncaricature, nounchapter, nouncharacterization, nouncitation, nounclimax, nounclimax, verbcoda, nouncollected, adjectiveconceit, nouncorpus, nouncouplet, nouncritique, noundactyl, noundeclamatory, adjectivedeconstruction, noundense, adjectivedevice, noundialogue, noundiarist, noundiction, noundigest, noundoggerel, noundraft, noundraft, verbdrama, noundub, nounelegy, nounending, nounepic, adjectiveepigram, nounepilogue, nounepistolary, adjectiveepitaph, nounessay, nounessayist, nouneulogy, nounexegesis, nounfable, nounfairy tale, nounfantasy, nounfiction, nounfictional, adjectivefirst edition, nounfirst person, nounflashback, nounflorid, adjectiveflowery, adjectivefolk, adjectiveforeword, nounformulaic, adjectivefree verse, nounghost story, nounGothic, adjectivegrandiloquent, adjectivehaiku, nounheroic, adjectiveheroic couplet, nounhexameter, nounhumorist, nounhyperbole, nouniamb, nouniambic pentameter, nounimage, nounimagery, nouninformal, adjectiveingénue, nouninstalment, nounirony, nounjournal, nounlay, nounlimerick, nounlit., literary, adjectiveliterature, nounlyric, adjectivelyric, nounlyrical, adjectivelyricism, nounman of letters, nounmanuscript, nounmetaphor, nounmetaphorical, adjectivemetre, nounmetrical, adjectivemonologue, nounnarrative, nounnarrator, nounnaturalism, nounnaturalistic, adjectivenom de plume, nounnovel, nounnovelist, nounnovella, nounnursery rhyme, nounode, nounonomatopoeia, nounpadding, nounpaean, nounparagraph, nounparaphrase, verbparaphrase, nounparenthetical, adjectivepassage, nounpathetic fallacy, nounpen name, nounpentameter, nounperiphrasis, nounperoration, nounpicaresque, adjectiveplaywright, nounplot, nounpoem, nounpoet, nounpoetess, nounpoetic, adjectivepoetic licence, nounpoet laureate, nounpoetry, nounpolemic, nounpolemical, adjectivepotboiler, nounprécis, nounpreface, nounprefatory, adjectiveprologue, nounprose, nounprosody, nounprotagonist, nounpseudonym, nounpulp, nounquatrain, nounquotation, nounquote, verbreading, nounrecite, verbrendition, nounrevise, verbrevision, nounrhetoric, nounrhyme, nounrhyme, verbromance, nounsaga, nounsatire, nounsatirist, nounscience fiction, nounscribbler, nounscript, nounself-portrait, nounSF, Shakespearean, adjectiveshort story, nounsimile, nounsoliloquy, nounsonnet, nounstanza, nounstilted, adjectivestory, nounstream of consciousness, nounstylist, nounsubplot, nounsubtitle, nounsuperhero, nounsurrealism, nounsurrealistic, adjectivesynopsis, nountailpiece, nountale, nountalking book, nountearjerker, nountext, nountextual, adjectivetexture, nountheme, nounthriller, nountitle, nountragedian, nountragedy, nountragic, adjectivetragicomedy, nountrope, nounturgid, adjectiveunabridged, adjectiveverse, nounvignette, nounvolume, nounweepy, nounwell-turned, adjectivewhodunit, nounwriter, nounwriter's block, nounyarn, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The parents were not to blame for the tragic death of their son. Lillian Board’s death at 22 was a tragic loss for British athletics. The tragic irony is that the drug was supposed to save lives.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
The parents were not to blame for the tragic death of their son. Lillian Board’s death at 22 was a tragic loss for British athletics. (=the main person in a tragedy)
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES (=a funny or sad one)· Homer Simpson is a great comic character.
(=extremely sad and unfortunate)· Both parents had died in tragic circumstances.
(=very sad, usually involving death)· Someone dropped a burning cigarette, with tragic consequences.
· Her family are trying to come to terms with Anna's tragic death.
(=about funny/very sad events)· Martin Clunes is to star in a new comedy drama.
(=very sad)· Let’s not talk about the tragic events of the past.
· The play is about the tragic fate of two lovers.
(=one that involves someone’s death)· Andrew’s father was lost at sea in this tragic incident.
The tragic irony is that the drug was supposed to save lives.· The result is inevitable, but this time much more tragic.· Surely nothing in the world could be more tragic than that?· An even more tragic fate befell many who, amid the crazed stampede, were able to get out of the fort.
· It was the most tragic thing I've ever seen.· In the case of February 2001, it was one of the most tragic.· Of all the aristocratic victims, perhaps the executions of three women were the most tragic.
· It was so tragic that the girl should be going through all this by herself.· His effort to be kindly about it and to show understanding are the things that seem so tragic.· Columbine is rarely seen in so tragic a role.
· Female speaker It's very tragic but he would have done it for anybody.· It would be very tragic if her economic circumstances ever pulled her down.· It's a very tragic accident.· I thought that was very tragic.
NOUN· Was this the moment to ask about Emily's brother, Tom, and the tragic accident?· The jury saw this case exactly as it is: It was a tragic accident, not a murder.· Coroner David Gibbons said he was satisfied that Mr Pollards death was was a tragic accident.· I have no reason to believe at this time that this was anything more than a terribly tragic accident.· It's a very tragic accident.· If that is acceptable, why not create a clone of a child who was lost in a tragic accident?· The affair had been regarded as a tragic accident, and Fedorov severely censured for negligence.· I understand they are quite convinced it is a tragic accident.
· They were to figure prominently among the more tragic case histories.· Still, the most powerful of all defenses, the one that in the end resolved this tragic case, was forgiveness.· Specific screening campaigns, however, should be based on a logical, not purely emotional, response to tragic cases.· The bereaved are normally anxious for a speedy conclusion in these tragic cases.· And yet how many tragic cases of hopelessness in families and amongst children are there which never reach our newspapers?· Mr Crossland's lawyer told the court that it was a tragic case of a young idealist who was also naive.· I know of no set of criteria that could be drawn up to include such a tragic case.
· But the question is not pursued with the same tenacity and intensity as when a child dies in tragic circumstances.· Those first glimmerings occurred in tragic circumstances.· It was therefore bitterly disappointing when McDougall, aged only fifty, died in tragic circumstances in November 1961.· Two fatal accidents in tragic circumstances were reported - to's husband and to's new daughter-in-law.
· His parents, from Gloucestershire, have joined the county's pre-Christmas campaign to highlight the tragic consequences of drinking and driving.· The thesis is to show the tragic consequences of parents who are oppressive and inflexible in their relationship with their children.· Yesterday's train crash near Selby, North Yorkshire, was clearly a tragic consequence of chance and deadly events.· As a result, what we see is consistently open to interpretation, often with profound and tragic consequences.· But it had a tragic consequence.· This trend has already had plenty of tragic consequences.· He says that the case for re-starting Newent's night time ambulance service has been proved, albeit with tragic consequences.· And I saw the tragic consequences to other flights and individuals when one element or another of that important synergy broke down.
· Today, the Mirror looks back to the first tragic deaths in one of the world's longest and more bitter conflicts.· The news of his tragic death stunned everyone.· Since his tragic death my daughter has carried on his good work.· Let him know that something good has come out of his tragic death.· It concerns the tragic death on 5 February of six-year-old Carley Reavill who died in hospital of meningitis.· Police believe the tragic death of 21 year old Lee Russell may be linked to drug abuse.
· In 1920, this transport had a tragic end.· It was not uncommon to hear stories of the tragic end of those upon whom such a curse came.· David Lawrence, whose first overseas Test came to a tragic end when he broke his kneecap while bowling.· Affectionately, the documentary gives due to what gay visibility there was, even if gay characters met tragic ends.· Read in studio Eighty years ago Captain Scott's expedition to the south pole came to its tragic end.· In 1875 Edith Arendrup's marriage came to a tragic end.
· Many years later, but before the tracks were removed, a tragic event happened on the line.· The building is part of the tragic event.· But one that we have created by attributing a secret and higher purpose to a tragic event.· Suicides in hospital patients are tragic events, causing distress to staff and other patients.
· I drafted Howard's final response to the inevitable correspondence that ensured: Randolph was in my view a tragic figure.· A truly tragic figure, Johnson had overreached himself.
· Party chairman Chris Patten, the tragic hero of the hour, arrived shortly after 11.00 for a lengthy post-mortem.· Sentimental comedy possesses several characteristics that are incompatible with the classic concept of tragedy and the tragic hero.· But Laker, like all tragic heroes, had his fatal flaw, hubris.· In most cases the pesme sing of tragic heroes who met violent deaths, martyrs to the national cause.
· The needles splinter the wind into dirges and laments that tell of the long and tragic history of the trees.· All the objects around her appeared not to care about her tragic history.· He comes from a very distinguished family, of course, with a tragic history.· Oxford has a tragic history of student parties.
· It was a Hardyesque situation, and one which added an element of tragic irony to my sorrow.· With a tragic irony she very nearly succeeded.
· His tragic loss was shared with his wife Sally and daughter Katie by everyone who knew him.· It would be a tragic loss to theatre if such an important organisation were to go to the wall.· Mr. Forth I join the hon. Gentleman in expressing our sorrow at that tragic loss.· The tragic loss of Knowles was a sorry enough blow to suffer.
· Hence the capacity of music to engender myth, especially the tragic myth that symbolizes Dionysiac wisdom.· And it is in terms of just such a co-existence of opposites that tragic myth arises.· The content of tragic myth is, in the first instance, a pleasurable epic glorification of the hero.· The Dionysiac capacity of a nation is revealed equally by its music and its tragic myth.
· Frustrated by his lack of social acceptance he retreats into a world of fantasy and self-delusion ... with tragic results.· Imagine our horror at the thought that we might now be held legally responsible for the tragic results of an inadequate diet.· Thankfully, they did not lead to the same tragic results.· Otherwise, negative views and bad practice can be reinforced - with tragic results.
· But in her tragic situation she clearly resented my being young and alive while her daughter was young and dead.· Unfortunately, the first impulse of the parents caught in this tragic situation is to sue their doctors.
· Interspersed between tragic stories are a few songs supplying pointed but comic relief.· But the tragic story does not end there.· He carries on with his illogical druggy spew, obviously telling a tragic story by the look on his face.· There she hesitatingly narrated her tragic story.· It is a cruel, tragic story.· The tragic stories - the quiet or violent deaths of the unrecorded poor - were rarely told.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1a tragic event or situation makes you feel very sad, especially because it involves death or suffering: - The experience of some Sunday morning services in competition with golf is a sad commentary on the bending of principle to person.
The parents were not to blame for the tragic death of their son. Lillian Board’s death at 22 was a tragic loss for British athletics.2[only before noun] relating to tragedy in books or plays OPP comic: a great tragic actortragic hero (=the main person in a tragedy)