Tragischer

Tragischer is a German adjective derived from tragisch, meaning "tragic" or "disastrous." In everyday language it most often appears as the comparative form meaning "more tragic" (for example, Der Film war tragischer als der Roman). It can also function in the positive sense before a noun in the appropriate declension, as in der tragische Vorfall or ein tragischer Vorfall, depending on article and gender.

In ordinary use, tragischer agrees with the noun it modifies in gender, number, and case. Examples include der tragische Vorfall (masculine, nominative, definite article), die tragische Geschichte (feminine, nominative), and das tragische Ereignis (neuter, nominative). With no article the strong declension yields forms such as tragischer Vorfall (masculine, nominative). The word is most common in contexts describing events, characters, or tones that carry inherent sorrow or catastrophe.

Etymology traces tragischer to the German adjective tragisch, which itself comes from the noun Tragik, borrowed from Greek tragike techne via Latin and French. The related noun Tragödie denotes tragedy as a dramatic genre, while Tragik refers to the broader concept of tragedy or tragic feelings. The adjective tragisch and its inflected forms, including tragischer, are standard in literary, journalistic, and everyday German when characterizing something with or relating to tragedy.

See also: Tragik, Tragödie, tragisch.