Melancholy

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈmelÉ™nkÉ™li/
• US IPA: /ˈmÉ›l.É™nËŒkÉ‘l.i/

Origin

From Ancient Greek μελαγχολία (melancholia, "atrabiliousness"), from μέλας (melas), μελαν- (melan-, "black, dark, murky") + χολή (chole, "bile"). Compare the Latin ātra bīlis ("black bile").

Full definition of melancholy

Adjective

1. Affected with great sadness or depression.
   Melancholy people don't talk much.
• 1922, Ben Travers, A Cuckoo in the Nest Chapter 1, “… the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes.... And then, when you see senders, you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases. …”

Synonyms

• (thoughtful sadness) wistful

Noun

1. (historical) Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.
• 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Book I, New York 2001, p. 148:Melancholy, cold and dry, thick, black, and sour, ... is a bridle to the other two hot humours, blood and choler, preserving them in the blood, and nourishing the bones.
2. Great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
• 1593, William Shakespeare, , V. i. 34:My mind was troubled with deep melancholy.

Related terms

• melancholic
• sadness