TRAGEDY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Tragedy

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/trˈædʒədi/ Listen

noun

Tragedy n. (pl. tragedies)

A dramatic poem, composed in elevated style, representing a signal action performed by some person or persons, and having a fatal issue; that species of drama which represents the sad or terrible phases of character and life. "Tragedy is to say a certain storie, As olde bookes maken us memorie, Of him that stood in great prosperitee And is yfallen out of high degree Into misery and endeth wretchedly." "All our tragedies are of kings and princes." "tragedy is poetry in its deepest earnest; comedy is poetry in unlimited jest."

A fatal and mournful event; any event in which human lives are lost by human violence, more especially by unauthorized violence.

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Etymology of 'Tragedy'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tragedy" Quotes from Famous Books

... of many women, had listened to many tragic confessions, had seen women in agonies of remorse; but nothing had ever touched him as did this bald statement, abrupt with repressed feeling, of a girl's solitary tragedy. Had her hero been a lover instead of an art, he would have met her confidence with platitudes and a suppressed yawn; but her lonely attitude in the midst of millions and friends, her terrible slavery to an ideal, to a scourging conscience which was at war with all the secretiveness, ...

— The Californians • Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

... digress. Your critic, Mr. Heywood Broun, says on page 33 of the November issue of your worthy magazine that The Easiest Way is the father of all modern American tragedy. Sir, does Mr. Broun forget that there once lived a man named William Shakespeare? Is it possible to overlook such immortal tragedies as Hamlet and Othello? I think not. Fiat justitia, ruat ...

— Perfect Behavior - A Guide for Ladies and Gentlemen in all Social Crises • Donald Ogden Stewart

... the tragedy!" says I. "You give me the creeps, talkin' that rot! What you want to do is to go up for a short sail if you can, forget to try any Hamilton stunts, and then beat it back to collect that five thousand while the collectin's good. Say, when ...

— Torchy • Sewell Ford

... Tragedy and comedy both are forced to observe these nominal proprieties. Who was it that illuminated his house, and had the church bells rung, on finding a name for his hero? We should never have believed in Iago's treacheries if he had appeared before ...

— Guy Livingstone; - or, 'Thorough' • George A. Lawrence

... her eyes. Apart from the tragedy there was something very touching in this man's affection and sorrow for his friend. Neither gruffness of tone nor shortness of manner could disguise the strength of the ...

— East of the Shadows • Mrs. Hubert Barclay

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