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 of melancholic

• sad
• depressed
• unhappy
• melancholy
• heartbroken
• miserable
• mournful
• bad
• sorrowful
• sorry

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

Silvestrov’s melancholic strings soared around him, enveloping the duo in their sense of pining. — Lucy Gellman, Hartford Courant, 7 Nov. 2026

This tale of a gently dysfunctional family comically moving from one disaster to the next is enhanced by a perfectly melancholic soundtrack (Nico, Nick Drake, and Vince Guaraldi) and an easy pace. — Debby Wolfinsohn, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Nov. 2026

Conti’s songs are more fragmented and less wilfully melancholic than Smith’s. — Alex Robert Ross, Pitchfork, 20 Oct. 2026

Pedersen is a student of opera performance, and the novel is studded with terms of art, but its most apparent musical influence may be the high tragedy and melancholic tumult of that genre. — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

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

Rhymes for melancholic

• alcoholic
• anabolic
• apostolic
• catabolic
• cytosolic
• diabolic
• diastolic
• ethanolic
• hyperbolic
• metabolic
• methanolic
• parabolic

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