Tragicomic

//ˌtɹædʒɪˈkɒmɪk// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, pertaining to, or resembling tragicomedy; having both tragic and comic aspects.

    "The pirates threatened to kill Captain Phillips if attacked, and the result was tragicomic: the world’s most powerful navy vs. a lifeboat."

Adjective
  1. 1
    having pathetic as well as ludicrous characteristics wordnet
  2. 2
    manifesting both tragic and comic aspects wordnet
  3. 3
    of or relating to or characteristic of tragicomedy wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
broadburlesquecampcomiccomicalcomicotragic

Example

More examples

"The pirates threatened to kill Captain Phillips if attacked, and the result was tragicomic: the world’s most powerful navy vs. a lifeboat."

Etymology

Blend of tragic + comic.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.