melancholic

adjective

mel·an·chol·ic | \ ˌme-lən-ˈkä-lik

Definition of melancholic

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

2 : of or relating to melancholia

3 : tending to depress the spirits : saddening

Other Words from melancholic Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about melancholic

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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

So bring a box of tissues or dried out makeup wipes and settle in for some melancholic film-watching. — Erin Donnelly, refinery29.com, "These Heartbreaking Films Are Guaranteed To Make You Cry," 12 June 2019 My work has a very melancholic and introvert feeling to it, which is very much a Finnish personality trait—and a Finnish aesthetic trait as well. — Vogue, "In Helsinki, an International Jury Singles Out the Work of MA Student Ines Kalliala," 31 May 2019 Aedes perfumery does an excellent job of creating melancholic scenes that look like they've been arranged by someone with a forever broken heart. — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, "Can Halloween Home Decor Be Chic? These Items Make the Case," 26 Oct. 2018 The performance aspect is the backbone of American Vandal’s second season and, naturally, immediately sets a more melancholic tone. — Karen Han, Vox, "American Vandal season 2 is a little more serious — but in a good way," 14 Sep. 2018 Autumn leaves and her unfinished embroidery convey the melancholic passage of time. — Judith H. Dobrzynski, WSJ, "‘Truth and Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelites and the Old Masters’ Review: Understanding a Complex Aesthetic," 28 July 2018 These patients tended to be pessimistic, resigned, worried and withdrawn, the researchers noted, like Eeyore, the melancholic gray donkey from Winnie-the-Pooh. — Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times, "Are You a ‘Type D’ Athlete? Relax and Ask for Help," 23 May 2018 But what makes this exhibition so intriguing is not the sublime but a counter-sublime, turning us away from landscape and toward a melancholic message sounded within it, implicated by figures seen, human and animal: the Indian and the bison. — Edward Rothstein, WSJ, "‘Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West’ Review: Where the Sublime Joins the Melancholy," 25 June 2018 His volumes of poetry and prose are crass and melancholic, vengeful eulogies for a nation on fire. — Linda Kinstler, Longreads, "Angrily Experiencing the Best Days of Our Lives," 27 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'melancholic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for melancholic

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