national tragedy
Country's shared grief
A national tragedy is a catastrophic event that affects an entire country's collective consciousness—mass casualties, assassinations, disasters, or attacks that unite a nation in grief.
The phrase carries weight: calling something a national tragedy implies it deserves mourning beyond those directly affected.
The September 11 attacks were a national tragedy.
Politicians and media sometimes invoke the term for lesser events, diluting its impact.
- terrorismIntimidation through targeted violence
- assassinationMurder of a prominent figure
- civil warDomestic armed conflict
- coup d'étatViolent government seizure
- droughtProlonged water scarcity
half-mast · fear · mourning · earthquake · memorial · famine · ethnic cleansing · September 11 · refugee crisis · loss · apartheid · genocide · collective · economic collapse · tsunami · wildfire · natural disaster · shock
- mourningfuneral, burial, grief, bereavement, wake
- Historical TragediesHolocaust, genocide, massacre, atrocity, ethnic cleansing