Definitions for tragedy
ˈtrædʒ ɪ ditragedy

Princeton's WordNet(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, cataclysm(noun)

   an event resulting in great loss and misfortune

   "the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the earthquake was a disaster"

2. tragedy(noun)

   drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity

Wiktionary(3.33 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. tragedy(Noun)

   A drama or similar work, in which the main character is brought to ruin or otherwise suffers the extreme consequences of some tragic flaw or weakness of character.

   Etymology: From the tragedie, from the tragedie, from the tragoedia, from the , from + ᾠδή, a reference to the goat-satyrs of the theatrical plays of the Dorians.

2. tragedy(Noun)

   The genre of such works, and the art of producing them.

   Etymology: From the tragedie, from the tragedie, from the tragoedia, from the , from + ᾠδή, a reference to the goat-satyrs of the theatrical plays of the Dorians.

3. tragedy(Noun)

   A disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury.

   Etymology: From the tragedie, from the tragedie, from the tragoedia, from the , from + ᾠδή, a reference to the goat-satyrs of the theatrical plays of the Dorians.

Webster Dictionary(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Tragedy(noun)

   a dramatic poem, composed in elevated style, representing a signal action performed by some person or persons, and having a fatal issue; that species of drama which represents the sad or terrible phases of character and life

2. Tragedy(noun)

   a fatal and mournful event; any event in which human lives are lost by human violence, more especially by unauthorized violence

Freebase(4.67 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Tragedy

   Tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in the viewing. While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, the term tragedy often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization. That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—"the Greeks and the Elizabethans, in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians, in a common activity," as Raymond Williams puts it. From its obscure origins in the theatre of ancient Greece 2,500 years ago, from which there survives only a fraction of the work of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, through its singular articulations in the works of Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Racine, and Schiller, to the more recent naturalistic tragedy of Strindberg, Beckett's modernist meditations on death, loss and suffering, and Müller's postmodernist reworkings of the tragic canon, tragedy has remained an important site of cultural experimentation, negotiation, struggle, and change. A long line of philosophers—which includes Plato, Aristotle, Saint Augustine, Voltaire, Hume, Diderot, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin, Camus, Lacan, and Deleuze—have analysed, speculated upon, and criticised the tragic form.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Tragedy

   traj′e-di, n. a species of drama in which the action and language are elevated, and the catastrophe sad: any mournful and dreadful event.—n. Tragē′dian, an actor of tragedy:—fem. Tragē′dienne.—adjs. Trag′ic, -al, pertaining to tragedy: sorrowful: calamitous.—adv. Trag′ically.—ns. Trag′icalness; Trag′i-com′edy, a dramatic piece in which grave and comic scenes are blended.—adjs. Trag′i-com′ic, -al.—adv. Trag′i-com′ically. [Lit. 'goat-song,' so called either from the old dramas being exhibited when a goat was sacrificed, or from a goat being the prize, or because the actors were dressed in goat-skins—L. tragœdia—Gr. tragōdia—tragos, a he-goat, aoidos, ōdos, a singer—aeidein, adein, to sing.]

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. tragedy

   Song lyrics by tragedy -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by tragedy on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'tragedy' in Nouns Frequency: #1842

Anagrams for tragedy »

1. gyrated

How to pronounce tragedy?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say tragedy in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of tragedy in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of tragedy in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of tragedy in a Sentence

1. Stephen Fagin:

   Many Fort Worth residents recall this visit as the last moment of happiness before tragedy struck.

2. Van Dyke:

   It's a tragedy that could have been prevented with one simple step, at any step during that 20-minute rampage -- if Laquan McDonald had dropped that knife -- Laquan McDonald would have been here today.

3. Kentucky Indiana Volleyball Academy:

   Our KIVA family will never be the same and we send prayers and love to all of the families touched by this tragedy.

4. Juan Branco:

   They pretended that this was a tragedy that nothing could be done against it that they had no role in it, and we demonstrate very carefully that, on the contrary, they triggered this so-called tragedy.

5. Albert Schweitzer:

   The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives

Images & Illustrations of tragedy

Popularity rank by frequency of use