melancholy
Use Melancholy in a sentence
ənˌkɒl noun
1.
a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged; depression.
2.
sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness.
3.
Archaic.
a.
the condition of having too much black bile, considered in ancient and medieval medicine to cause gloominess and depression.
b.
black bile.
adjective
4.
affected with, characterized by, or showing melancholy; mournful; depressed: a melancholy mood.
5.
causing melancholy or sadness; saddening: a melancholy occasion.
6.
soberly thoughtful; pensive.
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Melancholy
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| causing or tending to cause sleep. |
| a. to mark with a spot or spots; to sully or pollute |
Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English melancholie < Late Latin melancholia < Greek melancholía condition of having black bile, equivalent to melan- melan- + chol(ḗ) bile + -ia -ia
1275–1325; Middle English melancholie < Late Latin melancholia < Greek melancholía condition of having black bile, equivalent to melan- melan- + chol(ḗ) bile + -ia -ia
Related forms
mel·an·chol·i·ly, adverb
mel·an·chol·i·ness, noun
un·mel·an·chol·y, adjective
Synonyms
1. sadness, dejection, despondency. 2. seriousness. 4. gloomy, despondent, blue, dispirited, sorrowful, dismal, doleful, glum, downcast. 6. serious.
1. sadness, dejection, despondency. 2. seriousness. 4. gloomy, despondent, blue, dispirited, sorrowful, dismal, doleful, glum, downcast. 6. serious.
Antonyms
1. cheer, happiness. 5. happy.
1. cheer, happiness. 5. happy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To melancholy
Collins
World English Dictionary
melancholy (ˈmɛlənkəlɪ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl -cholies | |
| 1. | a constitutional tendency to gloominess or depression |
| 2. | a sad thoughtful state of mind; pensiveness |
| 3. | archaic |
| a. a gloomy character, thought to be caused by too much black bile | |
| b. See humour one of the four bodily humours; black bile | |
| —adj | |
| 4. | characterized by, causing, or expressing sadness, dejection, etc |
| [C14: via Old French from Late Latin melancholia, from Greek melankholia, from melas black + kholē bile] | |
| melancholily | |
| —adv | |
| 'melancholiness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
melancholy
c.1300, "condition characterized by sullenness, gloom, irritability," from O.Fr. melancholie, from L.L. melancholia, from Gk. melankholia "sadness," lit. "black bile," from melas (gen. melanos) "black" (see melanin) + khole "bile" (see Chloe).
Medieval physiology attributed depression to excess of "black bile," a secretion of the spleen and one of the body's four "humors." Adj. sense of "sullen, gloomy" is from 1526; sense of "deplorable" (of a fact or state of things) is from 1710.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
melancholy mel·an·chol·y (měl'ən-kŏl'ē)
n.
Sadness or depression of the spirits; gloom.
Melancholia.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
He had no successful military experience, no formal education, and suffered from depression and melancholy all his life.
In his jacket photo, though, he looked quietly intense and appealingly melancholy.
Her well-shaped, slightly voluptuous lips form a striking contrast to the to the melancholy darkness of her eyes.
The same mobile melancholy, dreamy, objectless melancholy.
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