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In the old theory of the four humors, melancholy was linked to an excess of which humor?

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melancholy

American  

[mel-uhn-kol-ee] / ˈmɛl ənˌkɒl i /

noun

• melancholies
  plural

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.

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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

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adjective

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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• melancholiness
  noun
• unmelancholy
  adjective
• melancholily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• melancholies
  plural

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

See Examples For:

melancholy melancholies

A poolside interlude channels the tension of distance between two people who were once close: The woman grasps a book but seems primarily absorbed in melancholy; the man broods around her.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

In the lyrics, the singer professes his love for a girl called Celeste over a melancholy piano line, saying: "I hear her voice each time I take a breath".

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

“Oh Yeah?” is an artful, side-eyed smirk at the pleasures and melancholy of stardom, from an artist who has remade rock and R&B for the bi-panic era.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

It is the novel’s desolate mood, finally, and Ms. McPherson’s evocation of a melancholy landscape that anchor both her plot and her heroine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

TVs a child I thought nothing of it, but when I became an adolescent, I began to read the verses on the tombstones with a certain pleasant melancholy.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

The pains, regrets and melancholies of the adult characters mingle with the fresher but no less complex experiences of the teenagers getting a taste of love, death and fellowship for the first time.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2023

Says Faber Birren, 82, the dean of American color researchers: "Color distracts you from yourself and relieves you of inner anxieties, melancholies and fears."

From Time Magazine Archive

He himself was full of vague latter-day glooms and popular melancholies, and it was a refreshing sensation to behold this young thing then and there, absolutely as happy as if she were in a Paradise.

From Life's Little Ironies by Thomas Hardy

There are as many Hamlets as there are melancholies.

From Intentions by Oscar Wilde

The analysis of these subtle melancholies is hard to read.

From Atmâ A Romance by Caroline Augusta Frazer

Related Words

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