tragicomedy

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UK/ˌtɹædʒɪˈkɒmədi/US/ˌtɹædʒɪˈkɑmədi/

noun

The genre of drama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy.

Similar
seriocomedy
OriginMiddle French tragicomédie ← Italian tragicommedia ← Latin tragicōmoedia →
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Meanings

nountragicomedy (countable and uncountable, plural tragicomedies)

plural tragicomedies · alternative comicotragedy · alternative comitragedy

  1. uncountableThe genre of drama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy.
  2. countableA drama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy.

    This matters because after the tragicomedies of Brexit and Grexit, the world has been enjoying the spectacle of “Orkxit”. This month it was suggested that the Orkney Islands might like to secede from Britain and become a self-governing territory of Norway.

    2023 July 13, “Why the Orkney Islands are considering joining Norway”, in The Economist, archived from the original on 13 Jul 2023

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna comedy with serious elements or overtones

Similar
seriocomedy
Broader
comedy
Also see
seriocomedy

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latintragicōmoedia
  2. Italiantragicommedia
  3. Middle Frenchtragicomédie
  4. Englishtragicomedy

Borrowed from Middle French tragicomédie (whence French tragicomédie), itself borrowed from Italian tragicommedia, from Latin tragicōmoedia, tragicocōmoedia. By surface analysis, tragic + comedy, with haplology.

More words from Middle French, Italian, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan tragicomèdia
  • tragicomèdiadrama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
Chinese Mandarin 悲喜劇 /悲喜剧
  • 悲喜劇 /悲喜剧 (bēixǐjù)drama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
Czech tragikomedie
  • tragikomediedrama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
Finnish tragikomedia
  • tragikomediadrama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
French tragicomédie
  • tragicomédiedrama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
German Tragikomödie
  • Tragikomödiedrama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
Greek ιλαροτραγωδία
  • ιλαροτραγωδία (ilarotragodía)drama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
Polish tragikomedia
  • tragikomediadrama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
Russian трагикоме́дия
  • трагикоме́дия (tragikomédija)drama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
Spanish tragicomedia
  • tragicomediadrama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
Tagalog lunus-katawanan
  • lunus-katawanandrama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
Ukrainian трагікоме́дія
  • трагікоме́дія (trahikomédija)drama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy
Cite this entry
APA

tragicomedy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tragicomedy

MLA

“tragicomedy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tragicomedy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tragicomedy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tragicomedy.

Source: tragicomedy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.