tragedy
/ˈtɹæd͡ʒɛdi/
"tragedy" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tragedy” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,746 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,746
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A drama or similar work, in which the main character is brought to ruin or otherwise suffers the extreme consequences of some tragic flaw or weakness of character.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tragedy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtɹæd͡ʒɛdi/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #5,746 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tragedy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tragedy is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɹæd͡ʒɛdi/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,746 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for tragedy, with forms such as "rtagedy", "targedy", and "traegdy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "traded", "traced", "Tracey", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the Middle English tragedie, from the Old French tragedie, from the Latin tragoedia, from the Ancient Greek τραγῳδία (tragōidía, “epic play, tragedy”), from τράγος (trágos, “male goat”) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”), possibly a reference to the goat-satyrs of t… The correct English form is tragedy, spelled T-R-A-G-E-D-Y.
Definition
- 1A drama or similar work, in which the main character is brought to ruin or otherwise suffers the extreme consequences of some tragic flaw or weakness of character.
- 2The genre of such works, and the art of producing them.
- 3A disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury.
Etymology
From the Middle English tragedie, from the Old French tragedie, from the Latin tragoedia, from the Ancient Greek τραγῳδία (tragōidía, “epic play, tragedy”), from τράγος (trágos, “male goat”) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”), possibly a reference to the goat-satyrs of the theatrical plays of the Dorians, or according to Beekes possibly to a goat given as prize, though the etymology remains uncertain.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rtagedy,targedy,traegdy,tragdey,trageddy,tragedyy,trageyd,traggedy,trgaedy,trragedy,ttragedy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tragedy - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “tragedy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-R-A-G-E-D-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɹæd͡ʒɛdi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “traded” - see the side-by-side comparison. tragedy vs traded
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.