tragicomedy

noun

tragi·​com·​e·​dy ˌtra-ji-ˈkä-mə-dē 

: a drama or a situation blending tragic and comic elements

Examples of tragicomedy in a Sentence

The play is a tragicomedy about a man's search for love.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Off-Broadway tragicomedy stars Driver as Strings McCrane, a country music icon who finds himself at a crossroads following the death of his mother. —Jessica Wang, EW.com, 15 Oct. 2024

But in this first-rate production – featuring superb performances from Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati – the play nevertheless emerges as a gripping drama of great wit, absurdity and tragicomedy. —The Week Uk, theweek, 26 Sep. 2024

Her writing radiates a cosmic empathy that coexists, sometimes on the same page, with a strain of intolerance blind to life’s tragicomedy. —Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024

As previously reported by Variety, the film is an episodic dark tragicomedy about five individuals grappling with rejection and the desire for revenge. —Marta Balaga, Variety, 2 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle French tragicomedie, from Old Italian tragicomedia, from Old Spanish, from Latin tragicomoedia, from tragicus + comoedia comedy

First Known Use

circa 1580, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

tragicomedy

noun

tragi·​com·​edy

ˌtraj-i-ˈkäm-əd-ē

: a play or situation which blends tragic and comic elements

tragicomic

-ˈkäm-ik

adjective

also tragicomical

-i-kəl