Sentence:  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 <WSD>tragic</WSD> 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? 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Causing great sadness or suffering.