Adjective

(er)

Very bad or intense.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01

, author=Donald Worster , title=A Drier and Hotter Future , volume=100, issue=1, page=70 , magazine= citation , passage=Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.}}

Strict or harsh.

Sober, plain in appearance, austere.

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]