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tragedian

tragedian

1 8.2
A person who writes or acts in tragic plays
  • noun
  • /trəˈdʒiːdiən/
: tragediógrafo
  • The chronicler envies tragedians such as Racine and Sophocles because their tragedies could take their time to reach a tragic end with just a little incest plot to go on.
  • Greek tragedian

One of these is Homer, and we could sort of shoehorn the Greek tragedians in there as well.

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Examples

  • In many theaters, the tragedian is regarded as one of the most challenging roles to master.

  • You're a fine tragedian, John.

  • "You are well educated and no doubt think of Seven Against Thebes, by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus."

    Fiction book (2002)
  • In the classical tragedians, like Sophocles, or for that matter in Lear, power is ignorance.

    Blog text (31)
  • This is clearest, she observes, in the work of the Greek tragedians, like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

    Academic text (2014)
  • For a deeper understanding of the fate of empires, we may have to turn not only to the Greek geographers but also to the Greek tragedians, with their central notion of hubris, followed inevitably by nemesis.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Clytemnestra's son and killer, Orestes, will eventually escape the cycle of vengeance. The tragedian depicts Orestes not as driven by the furies, the primitive spirits who are the essence of revenge, but as the instrument of Apollo.

    Academic text (2006)
  • The famous tragedian captivated the audience with her powerful performance in the dramatic play.

  • As a celebrated tragedian, he often wrote about the complexities of human emotions and suffering.

How Specialized

tragedian
1 8.2
actor
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

tragedian singular
tragedians plural

Morphology

tragedian = tragedy (transparent) = tragedy + ian

The meaning 'person associated with tragedies' follows directly from 'tragedy' + the agentive/adjectival suffix '-ian', which is a regular and recognizable pattern for learners.

Etymology

The word tragedian comes from tragedy, which goes back to the Greek words tragos 'goat' and oide 'song'. A helpful way to remember it is to picture an old actor singing a sad 'goat-song', and that's why a tragedian today is a writer or actor who works with serious, tragic plays.