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.—
Harry S. Truman
Harry 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
Made all the more legendary following her tragic death in August 1997, the 12-carat ring was valued at $37,500 in 1981 dollars—which translates to roughly $132,913 in 2025 dollars.
—Emma Banks, InStyle, 15 Feb. 2026
Williams turns his ear for propulsive and bombastic melodies onto traditional Japanese instrumentation, creating a work that sways between gentle, meditative themes for the titular geisha (Ziyi) and heart-pounding selections to fill out her chaotic, tragic life.
—Alex Galbraith, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Feb. 2026
The movie, based on a tragic true story, reunites Ethan Hawke (as Hart) with director Richard Linklater.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 15 Feb. 2026
One of the stops though, the Valley of Glencoe, known as the Valley of Weeping, has an all-too-real tragic history.
—Patti Nickell, Boston Herald, 15 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tragic
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Emma Banks, InStyle, 15 Feb. 2026
Williams turns his ear for propulsive and bombastic melodies onto traditional Japanese instrumentation, creating a work that sways between gentle, meditative themes for the titular geisha (Ziyi) and heart-pounding selections to fill out her chaotic, tragic life.
—Alex Galbraith, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Feb. 2026
The movie, based on a tragic true story, reunites Ethan Hawke (as Hart) with director Richard Linklater.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 15 Feb. 2026
One of the stops though, the Valley of Glencoe, known as the Valley of Weeping, has an all-too-real tragic history.
—Patti Nickell, Boston Herald, 15 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tragic
Cite this Entry
“Tragic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tragic. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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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