tragic

CEFRB2

/ˈtɹæd͡ʒɪk/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Causing or involving great sadness, death, or suffering.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Having been the victim of a tragedy.

Examples

  • He was killed in a tragic accident at the age of 24.

  • The tragic news drove his mother mad.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings
  1. Relating to tragedy in a literary work.

  2. Causing great sadness or suffering.

  3. Cringeworthy; tryhard; unhip; embarrassing; hopeless; indicative of (or having) a chronic lack of self-awareness.

More examples

In context
  • With a little more care, the driver could have avoided such a tragic accident.

  • He's pretty tragic these days, hanging out with people half his age.

  • Her father's early death was tragic.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The news report described the blank loss of life caused by the earthquake yesterday.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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