How to Use tragicomedy in a Sentence

tragicomedy

noun
  • The play is a tragicomedy about a man's search for love.
  • The process was bumpy, a tragicomedy that unfurled over decades.
    — New York Times, 21 Feb. 2022
  • This was the run that was supposed to make up for that tragicomedy of errors.
    — Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
  • That proved to be the case once more when a major studio balked at his tragicomedy take.
    — Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Feb. 2025
  • Few would dare, at this point, to guess what the next act in the national tragicomedy will be.
    — Jack Holmes, Esquire, 1 Aug. 2017
  • The basic components of the tone of my films are the tragicomedy and a dash of the grotesque.
    — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 25 Aug. 2021
  • Sure, and have the rest of my life be a tragicomedy of nicotine withdrawal.
    — Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2019
  • Through years of filming the tragicomedy, the two actors learned to deeply trust each other.
    — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2023
  • But while Iannucci whips up a fever-pitch frenzy, his film is not a farce, but a tragicomedy.
    — Christopher Kompanek, Houston Chronicle, 21 Mar. 2018
  • Hints of the tragicomedy to come surfaced on the second day, when heavy clouds threatened rain and the meeting was held in the barracks.
    — Literary Hub, 23 Feb. 2026
  • San Antonio has suffered a series of humbling tragicomedies, each more painful than the last.
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 12 June 2026
  • These blunders were a tragicomedy—a circus act entirely devoid of peanuts or joy.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 27 May 2026
  • We are thrust into a martial-arts movie for the ages, yes, but also a sly tragicomedy of cross-generational angst.
    — Justin Changfilm Critic, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2023
  • The scene was podcast gold, full of action and tragicomedy and winking references.
    — Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2021
  • And speaking of tragicomedies, The Farewell was also ignored.
    — Candice Frederick, Harper's BAZAAR, 14 Jan. 2020
  • The jury cited his skill in crafting a tragicomedy against the backdrop of social upheaval.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 28 Nov. 2024
  • Iannucci refers to it as a tragicomedy, folding the horror of this world right up next to absurd comedy.
    — Katie Walsh, idahostatesman, 5 Apr. 2018
  • The citizen in you laughs heartily as this film, a tragicomedy, skewers the hypocrisies and ironies of the repressed West.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2025
  • New art forms also emerged, such as the tragicomedy—a play or novel consisting of both comedic and tragic elements.
    — Tham Thi Nguyen, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 May 2026
  • Set in Shanghai, the film is a tragicomedy about a mother and daughter grieving their loss while trying to act normal.
    — Jenny S. Li, Variety, 12 June 2026
  • John Fawcett’s flawless tragicomedy is part satire, part splatter body-horror flick, part full-on monster movie, and complete heart.
    — EW.com, 31 Oct. 2024
  • The mirth picks up as the storytelling kicks into gear, thanks to Aleichem’s brisk narrative voice and gift for tragicomedy.
    — Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2021
  • The film is a tragicomedy about four young people in a holiday home on the Baltic coast who are threatened by an encroaching forest fire.
    — Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb. 2023
  • If this sounds a bit heady for a rollicking tragicomedy in which pratfalls and death throes are tumbled together, that is part of the play’s unusual scheme.
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2018
  • The longtime friends put their chemistry to good use in the latest revival of Samuel Beckett's tragicomedy.
    — Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Sep. 2025
  • If that sounds less than promising, even for a deadpan Romanian slice-of-life tragicomedy, go ahead and make the mistake of skipping this one.
    — Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 3 Dec. 2024
  • The tragicomedy follows a grieving widower who sets off on an epic quest to find the truth about a mysterious photo left behind by his deceased wife.
    — Ed Meza, Variety, 14 Feb. 2025
  • Feldman’s specific style is hard to explain or neatly label though critics and viewers alike have tried to with terms like dramedy and tragicomedy.
    — Dana Feldman, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
  • After his breakout role in the German tragicomedy Good Bye, Lenin!
    — Radhika Seth, Vogue, 9 Mar. 2023
  • After his breakout role in the German tragicomedy Good Bye, Lenin!
    — Radhika Seth, Vogue, 13 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tragicomedy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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