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Definition of tragedy noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

tragedy

noun
 
/ˈtrædʒədi/
 
/ˈtrædʒədi/
[countable, uncountable]
(plural tragedies)
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  1. a very sad event or situation, especially one that involves death
    • It's a tragedy that she died so young.
    • Tragedy struck the family when their son was hit by a car and killed.
    • The whole affair ended in tragedy.
    • Investigators are searching the wreckage of the plane to try to find the cause of the tragedy.
    Extra Examples
    • She had seen the tragedy unfold.
    • The closure of the factory is a tragedy for the whole community.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • absolute
    • appalling
    • awful
    verb + tragedy
    • end in
    • be dogged by
    • experience
    tragedy + verb
    • befall somebody
    • happen
    • occur
    preposition
    • tragedy for somebody
    See full entry
  2. a serious play with a sad ending, especially one in which the main character dies; plays of this type
    • Shakespeare’s tragedies
    • Greek tragedy
    • Revenge tragedies were very popular in Elizabethan England.
    compare comedyTopics Literature and writingb2, Film and theatreb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • classical
    • Greek
    • Jacobean
    verb + tragedy
    • write
    See full entry
  3. Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French tragedie, via Latin from Greek tragōidia, apparently from tragos ‘goat’ (the reason remains unexplained) + ōidē ‘song, ode’. Compare with tragic.
See tragedy in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee tragedy in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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