tragic
adjective (tragic, more tragic, most tragic)
Everyday
- Tragic means very sad, usually because someone has died or suffered something terrible. tree →
- In literature, tragic means to do with a tragedy, a serious play or story that ends in disaster for the main character. tree →
- (informal, slang) Tragic can mean embarrassingly bad: "His dancing is tragic." tree →
In the lessons
In news and history it describes accidents, wars and disasters. In English lessons it names a kind of story or hero. In playground talk it can be a jokey insult. Phrases: a tragic accident, tragic news, tragic hero, a tragic ending.
Examples
- The ship sank in a tragic accident. tree →
- It is tragic that so many animals lose their homes in fires. tree →
- The story has a tragic ending. tree →
- The tragic hero makes one big mistake that ruins him. tree →
- (slang) "That haircut is tragic," my brother joked. tree →
- We heard the tragic news on the radio. tree →
- She let her hands play in the hair of the tragic boy. tree →
Note
Adverb: tragically. Noun: tragedy. The slang sense is jokey and can sound unkind. Do not use "tragic" for small problems in formal writing.
On Mova
- Trees and pragmatics of «tragic» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «tragic» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/tragic/