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

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Released in June, the group’s fourth album, “Escrito en Agua,” is a bohemian tour de force — a bewitching combination of freestyle poetry, menacing Krautrock, melancholy shades of jazz and post-rock.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

There’s a gravity, even a melancholy to her Mary Stone, which drew on Fabares’ ability to project a genuine inner life into the least promising scenarios.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 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

“Never have I taken a friend to the Gare du Nord in more melancholy circumstances,” Andries writes his father.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

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

The analysis of these subtle melancholies is hard to read.

From Atmâ A Romance by Caroline Augusta Frazer

For the father relapsed anew into his old strange melancholies, dozing over his books, indulging feint and riposte in the chapel overhead, or gazing moodily along the imprisoned coast.

From Doom Castle by Neil Munro

And 'Syngenesia,' the last of the melancholies; with the 'Knight of the Snorting Palfrey; or, the Silken Fetlock.'

From Forgotten Tales of Long Ago by F. D. Bedford

Related Words

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