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; melancholy
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
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
That said, I’m hardly blind to its virtues: the fine performances of Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph; the aspirational Hal Ashby vibes; the wintry New England melancholia.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2024
While his absence has obvious resonance, if you were expecting some kind of Hamlet-style anguish or even a hint of misty melancholia about the now-absent symbolic father, forget it.
From New York Times • Mar. 2, 2023
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.
