Tragic means causing great sorrow through disaster or death. A tragic accident, tragic loss, tragically young.
In drama it means something more exact: a tragic hero is destroyed by a flaw in themselves rather than by bad luck, and that distinction is what makes tragedy different from misfortune. The Greek word behind it means of a goat, from the goat-costumed choruses. Note tragedy.
1adjectivetragicCausing great sorrow through disaster or death.
“The young singer's tragic death shocked his fans around the world.”
tragic is a quality of sorrow.
Greek tragikos means of a goat, from tragos, a goat, referring to the goat-costumed choruses of early drama.
Proto-Indo-European
*terh₁-
Ancient Greek
τραγικός — of or relating to tragedy
English, today
tragic
Built from
From Ancient Greek τραγικός (“of or relating to tragedy”), from τράγος (“male goat”), a reference to the goat-satyrs of the theatrical plays of the Dorians.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA