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🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

défaut tragique

Pronunciation / Transliteration: de-fo tra-ʒik

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Tragic flaw/ˈtrædʒ.ɪk flɔː/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #14500 frequency
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🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"L'orgueil est souvent le défaut tragique du héros."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A literary term that refers to a personality trait of a main character that leads to their downfall or destruction.

    "Macbeth's unchecked ambition serves as his primary tragic flaw."
  2. 2

    A fundamental weakness or failing in a person's character or in a system, plan, or institution.

    "The fatal design flaw in the software proved to be the company's tragic flaw."
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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the ancient Greek literary concept 'hamartia', popularized in English literary criticism through translations and adaptations of Aristotle's Poetics in the 18th and 19th centuries. The combination of 'tragic' (from Greek tragōidia) and 'flaw' (from Old Norse flaga) signifies a fundamental defect or weakness in the personality of a protagonist that leads to their downfall.

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