melancholy

American  

[mel-uhn-kol-ee] / ˈmɛl ənˌkɒl i /

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

melancholy British  

/ 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

Etymology

Origin of melancholy

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; see origin at melan(o)-, chol-, -ia

Explanation

Melancholy is beyond sad: as a noun or an adjective, it's a word for the gloomiest of spirits. Being melancholy means that you're overcome in sorrow, wrapped up in sorrowful thoughts. The word started off as a noun for deep sadness, from a rather disgusting source. Back in medieval times, people thought that secretions of the body called "humors" determined their feelings, so a depressed person was thought to have too much of the humor known as melancholy — literally "black bile" secreted from the spleen. Fortunately, we no longer think we're ruled by our spleens, and that black bile has been replaced by another color of sorrow: the "blues."

Example Sentences

“De Gaulle’s thinking, by contrast, was permeated by a sense of the inevitable and by a melancholy, sometimes apocalyptic, belief that all human enterprises will fail sooner or later.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

Once brash and unapologetic, his humour now carries a quiet melancholy - yet it lands with the precise timing of someone who has learned what it takes to survive.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

But while her previous pictures never shied away from tenderness despite their outré scenarios, her latest is a far more melancholy affair.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

Cue the synthetic flute chords of “Veridis Quo,” scoring their mutual melancholy.

From Salon • Mar. 1, 2026

But perhaps all this that I think is mere melancholy and dismay, which will fly away as the dust, when I stand once again beneath the poplars and listen to the rustling of their leaves.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque

Related Words

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