Definition of MELANCHOLY (original) (raw)
1
a
: depression of spirits : dejection
great outbursts of creativity alternate with feelings of extreme melancholy—
Brenda Lane Richardson
Mitchell sounds utterly alone in her melancholy, turning the sadness into tender art.—Rolling Stone
b
: a pensive mood
a fine romantic kind of a melancholy on the fading of the year—Richard Holmes
One 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
2
b
archaic : an abnormal state attributed to an excess of [black bile](/dictionary/black bile) and characterized by irascibility or depression
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
Synonyms
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.
Recent Examples on the Web
According To The 2024 Scotch Whisky Masters Conversations regarding the Hall of Fame candidacies of active ball players can either be optimistic or tinged with melancholy given precipitous declines in performance or injuries. —Wayne G. McDonnell, Jr., Forbes, 8 Sep. 2024 Composer Alexandre Desplat, the master of melancholy, is perfect for scoring this story about legacy and self-worth. —Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 2 Sep. 2024
After their pounding beats energized Challengers, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross shift gears with a score drenched in melancholy feeling, shaping the mood along with invigorating blasts of non-period tracks by New Order, Nirvana, Sinéad O’Connor and Prince, among others. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2024 But Ali, an avatar for Black America that white America often forces Black heroes to embody, had reason to be melancholy. —Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for melancholy 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'melancholy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English malencolie, melancolie "black bile, preponderance or excess of black bile, state (as anger or sorrow) produced by excessive black bile," borrowed from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French malencolie, melencolie, borrowed from Late Latin melancholia (Medieval Latin malencolia, by association with the prefix mal- mal-), borrowed from Greek melancholía, from melan-, athematic variant of melano- melano- + cholḗ "bile" + -ia -ia entry 1 — more at gall entry 1
Adjective
Middle English malincolie, melancolie, from attributive use of malencolie melancholy entry 1, probably reinforced by construal of -ly as an adjective suffix
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2b
Adjective
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of melancholy was in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near melancholy
Cite this Entry
“Melancholy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melancholy. Accessed 19 Sep. 2024.
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Last Updated: 19 Sep 2024 - Updated example sentences
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