tragedy

«tragedy» in Mova's school dictionary: a very sad event that causes great suffering, damage or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a tragedy, tragedies)

meaning for a pupil

1) A tragedy is a very sad event that causes great suffering, damage or death, like a terrible accident or disaster. tree →

2) A tragedy is a serious play or story that ends sadly, often with the death of the main character, as in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. tree →

3) (informal) Tragedy can be used jokingly for something small that seems sad, like dropping your ice cream. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history and the news, tragedies like shipwrecks, wars and floods are remembered with respect. In English lessons, pupils study tragedy and comedy as kinds of drama. In everyday talk, children may joke «What a tragedy!» about small losses. Phrases: «a terrible tragedy», «a Shakespearean tragedy», «end in tragedy», «tragedy struck».

examples

• The sinking of the Titanic was a great tragedy. tree →
• The town held a minute's silence after the tragedy. tree →
• Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies. tree →
• Tragedy struck when the bridge collapsed. tree →
• The day out ended in tragedy. tree →
• I dropped my ice cream — what a tragedy! (joking) tree →
• And then one night came the tragedy. tree →

note

Plural: tragedies. Adjective «tragic», adverb «tragically». Opposite in drama: «comedy». Be careful with the joking sense: around people who have suffered a real tragedy, it can sound unkind.

In the corpora

• The Greeks invented theatre, with comedies and tragedies performed in great open-air theatres by actors wearing masks.
• The tragedy of the commons is when everyone uses a shared thing for themselves until it is ruined for all.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «tragedy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.