tragédie

tragedy

noun trah-zheh-DEE Less Common

Origin: Greek 'tragoidia' via Latin 'tragoedia'

Usage Note

Tragédie covers both literary tragedy (a dramatic genre) and real-life catastrophes. The adjective tragique means 'tragic'. The related adverb tragiquement is commonly used in news reporting. In informal speech, c'est une tragédie can be used hyperbolically for something mildly unfortunate.

Examples

"Cette pièce est une grande tragédie classique."

Natural Translation

This play is a great classical tragedy.

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