Tragicomic describes something that is sad and funny at once. It is the adjective belonging to tragicomedy, and you reach for it when neither "sad" nor "funny" alone would be honest. It describes a work — "a tragicomic novel", "his tragicomic first film" — and it describes moments in life: "a tragicomic scene at the airport", "there was something tragicomic about watching him carry all those bags". This second use is where students will actually need it. It is the word for the situation that is too painful to be a joke and too silly to be a tragedy. The feeling it carries is affectionate. A tragicomic figure is someone we pity and enjoy at the same time — Charlie Chaplin's little tramp is the classic example. It is not a cruel word; it says the person is human and life is untidy. It is a written, thoughtful word. Reviewers and novelists use it constantly; nobody says it while queuing for coffee. In speech Taiwanese students would be better served by "it was funny but really sad" — which is the same idea in the same number of breaths.

悲喜交加的、令人又哭又笑的。書面用語，影評和小說裡很常見；口語就直接說「好笑又好慘」。