Adjective

(en adjective)

Causing much harm in a subtle way.

* 1911 , ,

Puritanism no longer employs the thumbscrew and lash; but it still has a most pernicious hold on the minds and feelings of the American people.

Causing death or injury; deadly.

Adjective

(en adjective)

Causing great sadness or suffering.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April

, author=(Jan Sapp) , title=Race Finished , volume=100, issue=2, page=164 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?}}

Relating to tragedy in a literary work.

(in tabloid newspapers) Involved in a tragedy.

* 2008', ''Search for '''tragic Madeleine McCann over'' (in ''The Daily Telegraph of Australia, 14 February 2008) [http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/search-for-maddie-over/story-e6freuy9-1111115550129]

* 2012', Gary Meneely, ''Keano’s tribute to '''tragic James'' (in ''The Irish Sun , 25 June 2012) [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/irishsun/irishsunnews/4392499/Keanos-tribute-to-tragic-James.html]