'Tragedy' definitions:

Definition of 'tragedy'

From: WordNet
noun
An event resulting in great loss and misfortune; "the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the earthquake was a disaster" [syn: calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, cataclysm]
noun
Drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity [ant: comedy]

Definition of 'Tragedy'

From: GCIDE
  • Tragedy \Trag"e*dy\, n.; pl. Tragedies. [OE. tragedie, OF. tragedie, F. trag['e]die, L. tragoedia, Gr. ?, fr. ? a tragic poet and singer, originally, a goat singer; ? a goat (perhaps akin to ? to gnaw, nibble, eat, and E. trout) + ? to sing; from the oldest tragedies being exhibited when a goat was sacrificed, or because a goat was the prize, or because the actors were clothed in goatskins. See Ode.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • All our tragedies are of kings and princes. --Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]
  • tragedy is poetry in its deepest earnest; comedy is poetry in unlimited jest. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A fatal and mournful event; any event in which human lives are lost by human violence, more especially by unauthorized violence. [1913 Webster] Tragic

Definition of 'tragedy'

From: GCIDE
  • Drama \Dra"ma\ (dr[aum]"m[.a] or dr[=a]"m[.a]; 277), n. [L. drama, Gr. dra^ma, fr. dra^n to do, act; cf. Lith. daryti.]
  • 1. A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action, and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by actors on the stage. [1913 Webster]
  • A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and interest. "The drama of war." --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
  • Westward the course of empire takes its way; The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last. --Berkeley. [1913 Webster]
  • The drama and contrivances of God's providence. --Sharp. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or illustrating it; dramatic literature. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: The principal species of the drama are tragedy and comedy; inferior species are tragi-comedy, melodrama, operas, burlettas, and farces. [1913 Webster]
  • The romantic drama, the kind of drama whose aim is to present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories told in dialogue by actors on the stage. --J. A. Symonds. Dramatic

Synonyms of 'tragedy'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Tragedy'