tragic

«tragic» in Mova's school dictionary: very sad, usually because someone has died or suffered… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective (tragic, more tragic, most tragic)

meaning for a pupil

1) Tragic means very sad, usually because someone has died or suffered something terrible. tree →

2) In literature, tragic means to do with a tragedy, a serious play or story that ends in disaster for the main character. tree →

3) (informal, slang) Tragic can mean embarrassingly bad: "His dancing is tragic." tree →

sense in the lessons

In news and history it describes accidents, wars and disasters. In English lessons it names a kind of story or hero. In playground talk it can be a jokey insult. Phrases: a tragic accident, tragic news, tragic hero, a tragic ending.

examples

• The ship sank in a tragic accident. tree →
• It is tragic that so many animals lose their homes in fires. tree →
• The story has a tragic ending. tree →
• The tragic hero makes one big mistake that ruins him. tree →
• (slang) "That haircut is tragic," my brother joked. tree →
• We heard the tragic news on the radio. tree →
• She let her hands play in the hair of the tragic boy. tree →

note

Adverb: tragically. Noun: tragedy. The slang sense is jokey and can sound unkind. Do not use "tragic" for small problems in formal writing.

Trees and pragmatics

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