tragicomic

tragi·com·ic | \ ˌtra-ji-ˈkä-mik

How to pronounce tragicomic (audio)

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variants: or less commonly tragicomical \ ˌtra-ji-ˈkä-mi-kəl

How to pronounce tragicomical (audio)

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Definition of tragicomic

1 : of, relating to, or resembling tragicomedy

2 : manifesting both tragic and comic aspects

Examples of tragicomic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Johnson builds her micro tragicomic set piece into the macro Good-and-Evil spacefight. — Darren Franich, EW.com, "Star Wars rewatch: The Last Jedi destroys a legend to rebuild the same legend," 16 Dec. 2019 The Outer Worlds is full of a lot of experiences like this, where the absolute bleak horror of a space empire run by lousy corporations melds with an intergalactic setting to produce moments that are stunning in their tragicomic brutality. — Wired, "The Outer Worlds: An Anti-Capitalist Game That's Too Much Work," 6 Nov. 2019 Based on that tragicomic history, there’s little indication corporate executives are any better at managing money than their employees. — Washington Post, "GE Pension Freeze Shows Workers Need Better Way to Save," 10 Oct. 2019 The lack of returnees on Thursday followed the same tragicomic script as previous efforts to get the Rohingya home. — New York Times, "Massacred at Home, in Misery Abroad, 730,000 Rohingya Are Mired in Hopelessness," 22 Aug. 2019 Rupert Everett makes his stage directing debut and plays the title role in this new version of Chekhov's tragicomic classic by David Hare. — Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Uncle Vanya': Theater Review," 31 July 2019 The two will be in dialogue about the mystical fairy-tale mood of the story, looking at how forgiveness and fortitude play into this tragicomic romance fraught with mistaken identities. — Nina Maclaughlin, BostonGlobe.com, "Bodies in detail, Kipling in Vermont, and Shakespeare in the park," 18 July 2019 Things feel different now, even in the few months since Lightfoot took over, and even with the tragicomic scandal of the Jussie Smollett affair. — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, "'16 Shots' documentary review: On Chicago's mean streets, who controls the narrative?," 3 June 2019 In between the tragicomic bits — there is much fun with accents — the performers grab instruments and sing a folk song, mostly Americana, but also Irish and such. — Kerry Lengel, azcentral, "Bite-size theater reviews: 'Flora and Ulysses,' 'Bury the Hatchet,' 'Godspell'," 4 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tragicomic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

28 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Tragicomic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tragicomic. Accessed 21 Feb. 2020.

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