Trivia Time

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  

/ 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 luscious and melancholy white-soul song that I’d bet Phil Collins admired back in the day — and that Justin Bieber would probably flip for now.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

One of the most melancholy cultural histories is that of the short-lived Russian Renaissance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

A perfect distillation of Parton’s themes and craftsmanship, where melancholy and resilience fight it out in the empty spaces.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Kitaj is the most melancholy of all the likenesses, and the only one that Ashbery did not tuck away but placed against a fireplace in an upstairs sitting room.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

There were more prayers, a psalm, the Lord’s Prayer and another long one in which the falling tones of valediction gathered into a melancholy finality.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

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

But this consciousness may be complete in certain melancholies and very incomplete in certain impulsions.

From A Psychiatric Milestone Bloomingdale Hospital Centenary, 1821-1921 by New York Hospital. Society

There are as many Hamlets as there are melancholies.

From Intentions by Oscar Wilde

Pearson's deep brown face and sunburned light hair gave him the appearance of a schoolboy seized by one of youth's profound and insolvable melancholies.

From Waifs and Strays Part 1 by O. Henry

Related Words

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