melancholy

[mel-uhn-kol-ee]

noun

plural

melancholies 

1. a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged; depression.

   Synonyms: despondency, dejection, sadness
   Antonyms: happiness, cheer

2. sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness.

   Synonyms: seriousness

3. Archaic.

   1. the condition of having too much black bile, considered in ancient and medieval medicine to cause gloominess and depression.

   2. black bile.

adjective

1. affected with, characterized by, or showing melancholy; mournful; depressed.

   a melancholy mood.

   Synonyms: downcast, glum, doleful, dismal, sorrowful, dispirited, blue, despondent, gloomy

2. causing melancholy or sadness; saddening.

   a melancholy occasion.

   Antonyms: happy

3. soberly thoughtful; pensive.

   Synonyms: serious, serious

melancholy

/ ˈmɛlənˌkɒlɪlɪ, ˈmɛlənkəlɪ /

noun

1. a constitutional tendency to gloominess or depression

2. a sad thoughtful state of mind; pensiveness

3. archaic

   1. a gloomy character, thought to be caused by too much black bile

   2. one of the four bodily humours; black bile See humour

adjective

1. characterized by, causing, or expressing sadness, dejection, etc

Other Word Forms

• melancholily adverb
• melancholiness noun
• unmelancholy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of melancholy¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English melancholie, from Late Latin melancholia, from Greek melancholía ”condition of having black bile,” equivalent to melan- “black” + chol(ḗ) “bile, gall” + -ia noun suffix; melan(o)-, chol-, -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of melancholy¹

C14: via Old French from Late Latin melancholia, from Greek melankholia, from melas black + kholē bile

Example Sentences

Her art features cute animals — the kind a child might cuddle with — but with thoughtful, melancholy features and expressions, as if they are grappling with a recent misfortune or trying to navigate a hard day.

From Los Angeles Times

You wouldn’t call him melancholy, exactly, but he feels the weight of the job, of his difficult superiors, of the wicked world.

From Los Angeles Times

"If you'd never come for me, I might have drowned in the melancholy."

From BBC

It threads through the dark, tracing the melancholy of separation and the intimacy of the night, as the voices of Angel Baby and Art Laboe come through radio speakers.

From Los Angeles Times

The band immediately followed it with the score for Sofia Coppola’s debut feature, “The Virgin Suicides,” and those two albums locked in Air as the ultimate turn-of-the-century band for tasteful European melancholy.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• boredom 
• despair 
• desperation 
• despondency 
• ennui 
• gloom 
• grief 
• sorrow 
• wistfulness