mel·an·choly
ˈme-lən-ˌkä-lē 
plural melancholies
1
a
: depression of spirits : dejection
great outbursts of creativity alternate with feelings of extreme melancholy—
Brenda Lane Richardson
Brenda Lane RichardsonMitchell sounds utterly alone in her melancholy, turning the sadness into tender art.—Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
b
: a pensive mood
a fine romantic kind of a melancholy on the fading of the year—Richard Holmes
Richard HolmesOne white arm and hand drooped over the side of the chair, and her whole pose and figure spoke of an absorbing melancholy.—Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle2
b
archaic
: an abnormal state attributed to an excess of black bile and characterized by irascibility or depression
c
archaic
: black bile
1
a
: suggestive or expressive of sadness or depression of mind or spirit
sang in a melancholy voice
b
: causing or tending to cause sadness or depression of mind or spirit : dismal
a melancholy thought
Synonyms
Noun
- blue devils
- blues
- dejection
- depression
- desolation
- despond
- despondence
- despondency
- disconsolateness
- dispiritedness
- doldrums
- dolefulness
- downheartedness
- dreariness
- dumps
- forlornness
- gloom
- gloominess
- glumness
- heartsickness
- joylessness
- miserableness
- mopes
- mournfulness
- oppression
- sadness
- sorrowfulness
- unhappiness
Adjective
Examples of melancholy in a Sentence
Noun
the bleakness of winter sometimes gives me cause for melancholy
Adjective
A melancholy lesson of advancing years is the realization that you can't make old friends.
—Christopher Hitchens, Harper's, June 1999
He has a snarled mop of spiky black hair, melancholy circles around his eyes, and a tiny Cupid's-bow mouth.
—Pauline Kael, New Yorker, 17 Dec. 1990
I see your mournful party in my mind's eye under every varying circumstance of the day; … the efforts to talk, the frequent summons to melancholy orders and cares, and poor Edward, restless in misery, going from one room to the other …
—Jane Austen, letter, 24 Oct. 1808
She was in a melancholy mood.
He became quiet and melancholy as the hours slowly passed.
Christopher Hitchens, Harper's, June 1999
He has a snarled mop of spiky black hair, melancholy circles around his eyes, and a tiny Cupid's-bow mouth.
—Pauline Kael, New Yorker, 17 Dec. 1990
I see your mournful party in my mind's eye under every varying circumstance of the day; … the efforts to talk, the frequent summons to melancholy orders and cares, and poor Edward, restless in misery, going from one room to the other …
—Jane Austen, letter, 24 Oct. 1808
She was in a melancholy mood.
He became quiet and melancholy as the hours slowly passed.
Recent Examples on the Web
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2024
At 78, Ferry reigns as the elder statesman of rock-star romantics, the king of elegant melancholy.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2024
Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 4 Nov. 2024
Most notable within Jones’ theme is the use of vibraphone when set against his orchestra’s melancholy strings.
—A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for melancholy 
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Noun
To say more about the plot would spoil the film too much, but Ryder is really a chameleon, flickering between quiet melancholy, genuine affection, and darker, more selfish concerns, and the rotoscoping art style accentuates the expressiveness of her face.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2024
At 78, Ferry reigns as the elder statesman of rock-star romantics, the king of elegant melancholy.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2024
Adjective
In 2020, Rateliff released a solo album, his third overall and his first since starting the Night Sweats, with a more melancholy sound that recalled his early-career work.
—Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 4 Nov. 2024
Most notable within Jones’ theme is the use of vibraphone when set against his orchestra’s melancholy strings.
—A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for melancholy
Dictionary Entries Near melancholy
Cite this Entry
“Melancholy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melancholy. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
melancholy
1 of 2 noun
mel·an·choly
ˈmel-ən-ˌkäl-ē
plural melancholies
: a sad or gloomy mood or condition
Etymology
Noun
Middle English malencolie "melancholy," from early French melancolie (same meaning), from Latin melancholia (same meaning), from Greek melancholia "melancholy," literally, "black bile," from melan-, melas "black" and cholē "bile"; so called from the ancient belief that the condition was caused by an excess of what was thought to be black bile in the body — related to choleric, melanin see Word History at humor
Medical Definition
melancholy
noun
mel·an·choly
ˈmel-ən-ˌkäl-ē
plural melancholies
1
: depression or dejection of spirits
also
: melancholia
2
archaic
a
: an abnormal state attributed to an excess of black bile and characterized by irascibility or depression
b
melancholy
adjective
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