- 1a very sad event or situation, especially one that involves death It's a tragedy that she died so young. Tragedy struck the family when their son was hit by a car and killed. The whole affair ended in tragedy. Investigators are searching the wreckage of the plane to try to find the cause of the tragedy. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectiveabsolute, appalling, awful, … verb + tragedyend in, be dogged by, experience, … tragedy + verbbefall somebody, happen, occur, … prepositiontragedy for somebody See full entry
- 2 a serious play with a sad ending, especially one in which the main character dies; plays of this type Shakespeare’s tragedies Greek tragedy compare comedy Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectiveclassical, Greek, Jacobean, … verb + tragedywrite See full entry See related entries: Types of play Word Originlate 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.Extra examples She had seen the tragedy unfold. The closure of the factory is a tragedy for the whole community. Tragedy struck when their 8-year-old daughter was knocked down by a car. We don’t know what caused the tragedy. In Greek tragedy the main character usually identifies himself upon entering the stage. It’s a tragedy that she died so young. Revenge tragedies were very popular in Elizabethan England. The whole affair ended in tragedy. Tragedy struck the family when their three-year-old son was hit by a car and killed.
tragedy
nounBrE BrE//ˈtrædʒədi//; NAmE NAmE//ˈtrædʒədi//
[countable, uncountable] (pl. tragedies) Types of playCheck pronunciation: tragedy
