melancholic

adjective

mel·​an·​chol·​ic ˌme-lən-ˈkä-lik 

1

: of, relating to, or subject to melancholy : depressed

2

: of or relating to melancholia

3

: tending to depress the spirits : saddening

melancholic noun

Synonyms

• bad
• blue
• brokenhearted
• cast down
• crestfallen
• dejected
• depressed
• despondent
• disconsolate
• doleful
• down
• down in the mouth
• downcast
• downhearted
• droopy
• forlorn
• gloomy
• glum
• hangdog
• heartbroken
• heartsick
• heartsore
• heavyhearted
• inconsolable
• joyless
• low
• low-spirited
• melancholy
• miserable
• mournful
• sad
• saddened
• sorrowful
• sorry
• unhappy
• woebegone
• woeful
• wretched

Examples of melancholic in a Sentence

she becomes quite melancholic when she reflects on all the lost opportunities of her life

Recent Examples on the Web

The Corbet profile recently published in the New Yorker mentioned his highfalutin reading list, which includes László Krasznahorkai (the source of Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies) and Oswald Spengler — taste that runs toward the dystopian and melancholic. —Armond White, National Review, 31 Jan. 2025

There are no big jump scares, the atmosphere is deliberately mundane, and the mood is more melancholic than terrifying. —David Sims, The Atlantic, 25 Jan. 2025

Operettas became more melancholic and activist, merging into everything from the Brecht-Weill theater to the modern musical. —Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2024

The piano soundtrack gets a little bouncier, and a little less melancholic. —Bruce Handy, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English malencolic, melancolyk "consisting of or caused by black bile, irascible, gloomy," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French melancolique, borrowed from Latin melancholicus, borrowed from Greek melancholikós, from melancholía "black bile, melancholy entry 1" + -ikos -ic entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

melancholic

1 of 2 adjective

mel·​an·​chol·​ic ˌmel-ən-ˈkäl-ik 

1

: of, relating to, or subject to melancholy : depressed

2

: of or relating to melancholia

melancholic

2 of 2 noun

1

: a melancholy person

2

: melancholiac