Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

tragedy

Syllabification: (trag·e·dy)
Pronunciation: /ˈtrajidē/
Translate tragedy | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of tragedy

noun (plural tragedies)

  • 1an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe:a tragedy that killed 95 people his life had been plagued by tragedy
  • 2a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.
  • the dramatic genre represented by tragedy:Greek tragedyCompare with comedy.

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French tragedie, via Latin from Greek tragōidia, apparently from tragos 'goat' (the reason remains unexplained) + ōidē 'song, ode'. Compare with tragic

Spell tragedy with -g- in the middle.tragedy began in ancient Greece.

tragedy in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of tragedy in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

offing

/ ˈɒfɪŋ /
noun
the more distant part of the sea in view …