tragedy

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)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.
2. (countable, uncountable)The genre of such works, and the art of producing them.
3. (countable, uncountable)A disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury.

   ““The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas.[…]””

   “We saw a farmhouse burning down in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. And we rolled right past that tragedy 'till we turned into some road house lights.”

   “[…] last month's flooding in the Buffalo Creek Valley […]. The tragedy took more than one hundred lives[…]”

   “After the terrible tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911, which killed 146 New York garment workers, proper fire drilling was considered a necessity.”