tragicomedy
nounUK /ˌtɹædʒɪˈkɒmədi/ · US /ˌtɹædʒɪˈkɑmədi/
Etymology Borrowed from Middle French tragicomédie (whence French tragicomédie), itself borrowed from Italian tragicommedia, from Latin tragicōmoedia, tragicocōmoedia. By surface analysis, tragic + comedy, with haplology.
1
The genre of drama that combines elements of tragedy and comedy.
2
A 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:
- Derived terms
- tragicomedian, tragicomedic, tragicomedienne, tragicomic, tragicomical, tragicomically
- Related terms
- dramedy, seriocomic