Words / B2

TRAJ-ik/ˈtrædʒɪk/

Tragic means extremely sad, especially involving death or disaster: a tragic accident; a tragic flaw. Tragedy is the noun (already in the dictionary); comic is the opposite in drama. A tragic accident still needs a date in the source. Mix-up: magic; traffic (already elsewhere). Do not call a lost mark tragic in an exam comment.

Meaning

Extremely sad, especially because it involves death or disaster.

Examples

• “A tragic accident still needs a date and a named inquiry in the source.”
• “The tragic flaw in the protagonist featured in the set text, which is the literature sense.”

Good to know

a tragic + noun; tragically. Noun: tragedy. Drama opposite: comic. Trap: traffic / exam hyperbole. News, literature, and history. Disastrous and sad, not “annoying”.

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