1.
[syn: calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, cataclysm]
2. drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Tragedy \Trag"e*dy\, n.; pl. Tragedies. [OE. tragedie, OF.
tragedie, F. trag['e]die, L. tragoedia, Gr. ?, fr. ? a tragic
poet and singer, originally, a goat singer; ? a goat (perhaps
akin to ? to gnaw, nibble, eat, and E. trout) + ? to sing;
from the oldest tragedies being exhibited when a goat was
sacrificed, or because a goat was the prize, or because the
actors were clothed in goatskins. See Ode.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A dramatic poem, composed in elevated style, representing
a signal action performed by some person or persons, and
having a fatal issue; that species of drama which
represents the sad or terrible phases of character and
life.
[1913 Webster]
Tragedy is to say a certain storie,
As olde bookes maken us memorie,
Of him that stood in great prosperitee
And is yfallen out of high degree
Into misery and endeth wretchedly. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
All our tragedies are of kings and princes. --Jer.
Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
tragedy is poetry in its deepest earnest; comedy is
poetry in unlimited jest. --Coleridge.
[1913 Webster]
2. A fatal and mournful event; any event in which human lives
are lost by human violence, more especially by
unauthorized violence.
[1913 Webster] Tragic
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Drama \Dra"ma\ (dr[aum]"m[.a] or dr[=a]"m[.a]; 277), n. [L.
drama, Gr. dra^ma, fr. dra^n to do, act; cf. Lith. daryti.]
1. A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action,
and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to
depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than
ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It
is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by
actors on the stage.
[1913 Webster]
A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and
interest. "The drama of war." --Thackeray.
[1913 Webster]
Westward the course of empire takes its way;
The four first acts already past,
A fifth shall close the drama with the day;
Time's noblest offspring is the last. --Berkeley.
[1913 Webster]
The drama and contrivances of God's providence.
--Sharp.
[1913 Webster]
3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or
illustrating it; dramatic literature.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The principal species of the drama are tragedy and
comedy; inferior species are tragi-comedy,
melodrama, operas, burlettas, and farces.
[1913 Webster]
The romantic drama, the kind of drama whose aim is to
present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like
those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories
told in dialogue by actors on the stage. --J. A. Symonds.
Dramatic
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
tragedy
n 1: an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; "the whole
city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the
earthquake was a disaster" [syn: calamity, catastrophe,
disaster, tragedy, cataclysm]
2: drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior
force or circumstance; excites terror or pity [ant: comedy]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
45 Moby Thesaurus words for "tragedy":
Aeschylean tragedy, Euripidean tragedy, Greek tragedy, Melpomene,
Renaissance tragedy, Senecan tragedy, Sophoclean tragedy, accident,
adversity, blow, buskin, calamity, casualty, cataclysm,
catastrophe, collision, contretemps, cothurnus, crack-up, crash,
curse, disaster, dole, domestic tragedy, grief, ill hap, lot,
misadventure, mischance, misfortune, mishap, nasty blow, pileup,
revenge tragedy, romantic tragedy, shipwreck, shock, smash,
smashup, staggering blow, tragic drama, tragic flaw, tragic muse,
unluckiness, wreck