variants
or less commonly tragical
1
a
: regrettably serious or unpleasant : deplorable, lamentable
a tragic mistake
b
: marked by a sense of tragedy
2
: of, marked by, or expressive of tragedy
the tragic significance of the atomic bomb—
H. S. Truman
H. S. Truman3
a
: dealing with or treated in tragedy
the tragic hero
b
: appropriate to or typical of tragedy
Examples of tragic in a Sentence
Their deaths were tragic and untimely.
They both died in a tragic car accident.
Romeo and Juliet's tragic love affair.
We saw a tragic play about a man with AIDS.
the tragic characters of her novel
Recent Examples on the Web
The December fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson allegedly by Luigi Mangione serves as an extreme and tragic example.
—T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, 12 Apr. 2025
Season 3 of Yellowjackets premiered in February 2025 and continued the story of a high school girls’ soccer team whose journey to a national championship turned tragic when their plane crashed in the Canadian wilderness.
—Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025
The episode is fundamentally a story about relationships, good and ill.
3. 'San Junipero' (Season 3, 2016)
Romantic, gratifying but also deeply tragic, this retro-futuristic episode starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis is Emmy-winning and beloved by fans for a reason.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 11 Apr. 2025
More than a century after its tragic sinking, the RMS Titanic is still revealing the details of that fateful night thanks to revolutionary underwater scanning technology, which offers unprecedented insights into the ship's final moments.
—David Muir, ABC News, 9 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tragic
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, 12 Apr. 2025
Season 3 of Yellowjackets premiered in February 2025 and continued the story of a high school girls’ soccer team whose journey to a national championship turned tragic when their plane crashed in the Canadian wilderness.
—Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025
The episode is fundamentally a story about relationships, good and ill.
3. 'San Junipero' (Season 3, 2016)
Romantic, gratifying but also deeply tragic, this retro-futuristic episode starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis is Emmy-winning and beloved by fans for a reason.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 11 Apr. 2025
More than a century after its tragic sinking, the RMS Titanic is still revealing the details of that fateful night thanks to revolutionary underwater scanning technology, which offers unprecedented insights into the ship's final moments.
—David Muir, ABC News, 9 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tragic
Cite this Entry
“Tragic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tragic. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tragic
adjective
trag·ic
ˈtraj-ik 
1
: of, marked by, or expressive of tragedy
2
: dealing with or appearing in tragedy
a tragic hero
3
: very unfortunate : deplorable
a tragic mistake
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