tragedy

noun

ˈtra-jə-dē How to pronounce tragedy (audio)
Definition of tragedynext
1
as in disaster
a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction the earthquake and the ensuing damage was the worst tragedy to ever befall the city

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2
as in misfortune
bad luck or an example of this it's the tragedy of many great artists not to be recognized for their genius until after they're dead

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tragedy Touko’s staging reimagines the Shakespeare tragedy with a focus on misogynoir. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 13 Aug. 2026 Obviously an insurmountable tragedy for the dad in this case. — Charmaine Patterson, PEOPLE, 13 Aug. 2026 The deaths and suffering are unquestionably a grave human tragedy. — Andrew Cuomo, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026 Leontes has cancer of the soul, and only tragedy will eventually carve it out of him. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 12 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for tragedy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tragedy
  1. disaster
  2. misfortune
  3. catastrophe
  4. calamity
  5. apocalypse
Noun
  • The club was rebuilding after the 1958 Munich air disaster but won a first post-Munich trophy, the FA Cup, earlier that year.
    — Andy Mitten, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
  • In nearby Anderson in Madison County, Indiana, the mayor declared a local disaster emergency and issued evacuation orders Thursday along the swelling White River and other waterways.
    — Dalia Faheid, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of disaster
Noun
  • But the fire this time was started by a son, which led to raging misfortunes that consumed his three brothers one by one, leaving only ashen memories for his surviving sister and aged parents to sift through.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2026
  • He was criticized for outing LGBTQ+ stars who hadn’t revealed their sexuality publicly, and for bullying others by mocking their misfortune.
    — Shirley Halperin, Rolling Stone, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of misfortune
Noun
  • Massive crude stockpiles before the war helped prevent catastrophe when supply dried up.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
  • As the summer of 2001 wears on through the lens of Kopple’s camera, our knowledge of the coming catastrophe casts a shadow over the proceedings.
    — Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of catastrophe
Noun
  • The latest findings indicated the vest could reduce an astronaut’s radiation dose by about 60% in a solar storm as fierce as the one in 1972 and by nearly 40% in a calamity mirroring 1989.
    — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2026
  • What followed was a season of extended power outages, blue-tarped roofs and yet a strange sense of community, as neighbors went out of their way to look after those that had shared in their calamity.
    — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of calamity
Noun
  • Worried about the dog in the sci-fi apocalypse thriller The End of Oak Street?
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 15 Aug. 2026
  • But now, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pushing back against the predictions of a job apocalypse once made by his fellow tech CEOs, including Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
    — Preston Fore, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of apocalypse

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tragedies
tragedy
tragic
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Cite this Entry

“Tragedy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tragedy. Accessed 20 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on tragedy

Nglish: Translation of tragedy for Spanish Speakers

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