tragedy

The word “tragedy” means a serious play or story in which the main character comes to ruin, often through a personal flaw or fate. In plain terms, either a serious dramatic work ending badly, or a real event that causes great sadness or loss.

“Tragedy” is pronounced TRAD-zheh-dee (/ˈtɹæd͡ʒɛdi/ in IPA).

Here is “tragedy” used in a sentence: “The plane crash was a tragedy that shook the whole town.”

“Tragedy” is a noun.

The word “tragedy” comes from Ancient Greek. From Old French tragedie, from Latin tragoedia, from Ancient Greek tragōidía, literally "goat-song" — likely a reference to the goat-costumed performers in early Greek drama, though the exact link is debated.

“Tragedy” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Tragedy” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a serious play or story in which the main character comes to ruin, often through a personal flaw or fate.

A tragedy is a serious play or story in which the main character comes to ruin, often through a personal flaw or fate. A comedy, by contrast, is usually light in tone and typically ends happily.

"Tragedy" emphasizes the suffering and loss caused by an event, and it can also mean a dramatic genre. "Disaster" focuses on the sudden, catastrophic event itself, such as a flood or crash, without the dramatic or emotional framing.

A tragic flaw is a defect in the main character's personality that helps bring about their downfall in a tragedy. It reflects the idea that the character's ruin often comes through a personal weakness rather than pure bad luck.

The plural of "tragedy" is "tragedies," following the usual rule of changing -y to -ies. So one disastrous event is a tragedy, and several are tragedies.