melancholia
Americannoun
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a mental condition characterized by great depression of spirits and gloomy forebodings.
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Psychiatry. endogenous depression.
noun
Other Word Forms
- melancholiac adjective
Etymology
Origin of melancholia
From Late Latin, dating back to 1685–95; see origin at melancholy
Explanation
Melancholia is a state of deep sadness. Your melancholia might make it hard to succeed in your career as a jolly birthday party clown. Melancholia is a name for a serious, diagnosable mental illness, but it can also mean more of a philosophical or aesthetic idea. You can call severe depression that requires a doctor's care melancholia. But you can also talk about the melancholia of your favorite piece of classical music or novel, if they're imbued with a somber moodiness or a deep sense of sorrow. The Greek root is melankolia, "sadness."
Vocabulary lists containing melancholia
Psychological Conditions and Disorders
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Psychology
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But he added, acidly: “there was little about melancholia that he didn’t know; there was little else that he did.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
Whilst also being silly, and people are being blown out of buildings, it has that texture of melancholia and loneliness underneath it.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2024
He has such a sparkle in his eye, and a joyful face, but he had a lot of melancholia.
From Salon • Nov. 4, 2024
And people looking for a dose of introspective melancholia at the end of the festival will have to choose between The National on the Other Stage, and James Blake, who plays in the Woodsies tent.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2024
Vincent knows there are members of the family who suffer from melancholia, from mood swings, extreme behavior, eccentricities.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
