1
as in disasters
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in misfortunes
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of tragedies
Cutesy anecdotes alternated with triumphs and tragedies—a school district rescued from a ransomware gang, an iPad salvaged from a plane crash.
—
Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
The city of Hayward in February experienced one of the deadliest 10-day stretches for pedestrians in the city’s history, leading the public to call on leaders to quickly approve a plan to help prevent future tragedies.
—Chase Hunter, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2026
Even area colleges have weathered tragedies, scandals and controversies recently.
—Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 16 Apr. 2026
As Holocaust memory is increasingly contested in the public sphere and the trauma of the Holocaust is joined by other tragedies for the Jews, Rosensaft’s vision has grown uncertain.
—Stewart Ain, Sun Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2026
Lawmakers have proposed several bills this session related to the agency that have, in part, been meant to address deficiencies or gaps made public after the recent tragedies.
—Laura Tillman, Hartford Courant, 16 Apr. 2026
Stars like Florence Lawrence did not simply appear on screen—rather, their romances, scandals, and personal tragedies were shaped into serialized publicity, their lives turned into ongoing narratives designed to sustain public attention.
—Literary Hub, 15 Apr. 2026
The movie includes footage of real historical tragedies — harrowing video from liberated concentration camps — along with contemporaneous ones, like the crash of PSA Flight 182, which happened less than two months before Faces of Death was released.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2026
Woodland suffers from severe anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, having endured a series of personal trials and tragedies, including a brain lesion that was affecting his mental health.
—Don Riddell, CNN Money, 9 Apr. 2026
Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
The city of Hayward in February experienced one of the deadliest 10-day stretches for pedestrians in the city’s history, leading the public to call on leaders to quickly approve a plan to help prevent future tragedies.
—Chase Hunter, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2026
Even area colleges have weathered tragedies, scandals and controversies recently.
—Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 16 Apr. 2026
As Holocaust memory is increasingly contested in the public sphere and the trauma of the Holocaust is joined by other tragedies for the Jews, Rosensaft’s vision has grown uncertain.
—Stewart Ain, Sun Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2026
Lawmakers have proposed several bills this session related to the agency that have, in part, been meant to address deficiencies or gaps made public after the recent tragedies.
—Laura Tillman, Hartford Courant, 16 Apr. 2026
Stars like Florence Lawrence did not simply appear on screen—rather, their romances, scandals, and personal tragedies were shaped into serialized publicity, their lives turned into ongoing narratives designed to sustain public attention.
—Literary Hub, 15 Apr. 2026
The movie includes footage of real historical tragedies — harrowing video from liberated concentration camps — along with contemporaneous ones, like the crash of PSA Flight 182, which happened less than two months before Faces of Death was released.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2026
Woodland suffers from severe anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, having endured a series of personal trials and tragedies, including a brain lesion that was affecting his mental health.
—Don Riddell, CNN Money, 9 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tragedies
Noun
-
Trump has expressed a desire to push more responsibility for disasters down to states.—
Gabriela Aoun Angueira,
Fortune,
11 Apr. 2026
-
His boldest innovation is to invoke not past glories but past disasters, summoning the ghosts of the United States’ catastrophic interventions in Iraq.—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Philadelphia singer-songwriter seeks out the mystical potential of quotidian misfortunes in a set of psychedelic-of-center bedroom pop songs.—
Lily Goldberg,
Pitchfork,
8 Apr. 2026
-
But a staggering series of misfortunes – an arsonist destroyed her rental house; the private equity firm that owned the house still demanded two months’ rent and kept her security deposit; she was diagnosed with ovarian and breast cancer – forced her into tenuous housing situations.—
John Blake,
CNN Money,
22 Mar. 2026
Noun
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But although the two films have imminent solar catastrophes at their core, their approaches to saving the world from extreme global cooling are radically different.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
19 Apr. 2026
-
Shaboozey doesn’t identify as a poli-sci expert but could still acknowledge human-rights catastrophes.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
For certain great artists, Meis believes, the creative act is a safe harbor where life’s pressures, exigencies, and calamities aren’t so much denied or resolved as reimagined as pictorial dramas.—
Jed Perl,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Colorado went 43-119, a record that belongs in a museum exhibit beside other modern-era calamities, behind glass.—
Jenny Catlin,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Based on Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth, the surrealist musical follows one nuclear family across thousands of years and three apocalypses.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
10 Dec. 2025
-
And a lot of the pseudepigrapha, like the fake gospels and fake apocalypses, fill in gaps in the record that can serve latter-day, post-biblical purposes.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tragedies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tragedies. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
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