Adjacent Words

Tragedy definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TRAG'EDY, n. [Gr. said to be composed of a goat, and a song, because originally it consisted in a hymn sung in honor of Bacchus by a chorus of music, with dances and the sacrifice of a goat.]
1. A dramatic poem representing some signal action performed by illustrious persons, and generally having a fatal issue. Aeschylus is called the father of tragedy.
All our tragedies are of kings and princes.
2. A fatal and mournful event; any event in which human lives are lost by human violence, more particularly by unauthorized violence.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; "the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the earthquake was a disaster" [syn: calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, cataclysm]
2: drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity [ant: comedy]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -dies) Etymology: Middle English tragedie, from Middle French, from Latin tragoedia, from Greek trag?idia, from tragos goat (akin to Greek tr?gein to gnaw) + aeidein to sing — more at troglodyte, ode Date: 14th century 1. a. a medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man b. a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror c. the literary genre of tragic dramas 2. a. a disastrous event ; calamity b. misfortune 3. tragic quality or element

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe. 2 a sad event; a calamity (the team's defeat is a tragedy). 3 a a play in verse or prose dealing with tragic events and with an unhappy ending, esp. concerning the downfall of the protagonist. b tragic plays as a genre (cf. COMEDY). Etymology: ME f. OF tragedie f. L tragoedia f. Gk tragoidia app. goat-song f. tragos goat + oide song

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tragedy Trag"e*dy, n.; pl. Tragedies. [OE. tragedie, OF. tragedie, F. trag['e]die, L. tragoedia, Gr. ?, fr. ? a tragic poet and singer, originally, a goat singer; ? a goat (perhaps akin to ? to gnaw, nibble, eat, and E. trout) + ? to sing; from the oldest tragedies being exhibited when a goat was sacrificed, or because a goat was the prize, or because the actors were clothed in goatskins. See Ode.] 1. 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. Tragedy is to say a certain storie, As olde bookes maken us memorie, Of him that stood in great prosperitee And is yfallen out of high degree Into misery and endeth wretchedly. --Chaucer. All our tragedies are of kings and princes. --Jer. Taylor. tragedy is poetry in its deepest earnest; comedy is poetry in unlimited jest. --Coleridge. 2. A fatal and mournful event; any event in which human lives are lost by human violence, more especially by unauthorized violence.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Drama Dra"ma (?; 277), n. [L. drama, Gr. ?, fr. ? to do, act; cf. Lith. daryti.] 1. A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action, and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by actors on the stage. A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon. --Milton. 2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and interest. ``The drama of war.'' --Thackeray. Westward the course of empire takes its way; The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last. --Berkeley. The drama and contrivances of God's providence. --Sharp. 3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or illustrating it; dramatic literature. Note: The principal species of the drama are tragedy and comedy; inferior species are tragi-comedy, melodrama, operas, burlettas, and farces. The romantic drama, the kind of drama whose aim is to present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories told in dialogue by actors on the stage. --J. A. Symonds.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tragedies) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A tragedy is an extremely sad event or situation. They have suffered an enormous personal tragedy... Maskell's life had not been without tragedy. N-VAR 2. Tragedy is a type of literature, especially drama, that is serious and sad, and often ends with the death of the main character. The story has elements of tragedy and farce. N-VAR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Dramatic poem, drama, play. 2. Calamity, disaster, catastrophe, shocking event.

Moby Thesaurus

Aeschylean tragedy, Euripidean tragedy, Greek tragedy, Melpomene, Renaissance tragedy, Senecan tragedy, Sophoclean tragedy, accident, adversity, blow, buskin, calamity, casualty, cataclysm, catastrophe, collision, contretemps, cothurnus, crack-up, crash, curse, disaster, dole, domestic tragedy, grief, ill hap, lot, misadventure, mischance, misfortune, mishap, nasty blow, pileup, revenge tragedy, romantic tragedy, shipwreck, shock, smash, smashup, staggering blow, tragic drama, tragic flaw, tragic muse, unluckiness, wreck