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

• melancholiness noun
• melancholily adverb
• 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

The holidays make the melancholy even more acute, but perhaps that’s also why they can be so cheerful, too.

Read more on Salon

It’s funny how just the grainy, washed-out look of videotape can conjure so much melancholy.

Read more on Salon

But that’s because at a Chappell Roan show, Chappell Roan is the show: a fearsomely talented purveyor of feeling and attitude whose campy sense of humor only heightens the exquisite melancholy of her music.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The Nobel Prize in Literature was on Thursday awarded to Laszlo Krasznahorkai, considered by many as Hungary's most important living author, whose works explore themes of postmodern dystopia and melancholy.

Read more on Barron's

Ms. Case’s songs spark with this kind of powerful but finite energy, which reflects the alternately joyful and melancholy arc of life itself.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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