tragicomedy

[traj-i-kom-i-dee]

noun

plural

tragicomedies 

1. a dramatic or other literary composition combining elements of both tragedy and comedy.

2. an incident, or series of incidents, of mixed tragic and comic character.

tragicomedy

/ ˌtrædʒɪˈkɒmɪdɪ /

noun

1. 1. a drama in which aspects of both tragedy and comedy are found

   2. the dramatic genre of works of this kind

2. an event or incident having both comic and tragic aspects

Other Word Forms

• tragicomic adjective
• tragicomically adverb
• tragicomical adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tragicomedy¹

1570–80; < Late Latin tragicōmoedia, syncopated variant of Latin tragicocōmoedia. See tragic, -o-, comedy

Word History and Origins

Origin of tragicomedy¹

C16: from French, ultimately from Late Latin tragicōmoedia ; see _tragedy , _comedy

Example Sentences

“Memoir of a Snail” is a strange stop-motion tragicomedy straight out of Dickens that’s not about a gastropod but the grim life of a grief-stricken snail enthusiast.

From Los Angeles Times

It is a tragicomedy that mixes historical fact with the author's imagination.

From BBC

For anyone who’s ever felt adrift or behind in life, this keenly observed and inventively structured Argentine tragicomedy mines dry humor from the absurdity of social norms and its protagonist’s downhearted demeanor.

From Los Angeles Times

Her work is not strictly autobiographical, but as in the plays of Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee or Adrienne Kennedy, she has a canny way of rearranging the emotional furniture of her lived experience into tragicomedy.

From New York Times

This describes the tragicomedy of Asher and Whitney – they are convinced they know better and can therefore force people to live better.

From Salon