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

• 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

Beginning life as a lighter, more kid-friendly spinoff before transforming into something more melancholic and thoughtful than its parent series, Boruto is also broken into two distinct halves. —Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 4 Aug. 2025

Still, scattershot laughs aside, Happy Gilmore 2’s efforts at silliness are overwhelmed by a sensibility that’s downright melancholic and overshadowed by death, and not just the impending one of the film industry. —Alison Willmore, Vulture, 25 July 2025

Jack Spicer, a severely melancholic California poet whose own death drive ended tragically, left us with exquisite Orphic car poems in his wake. —Rosie Stockton may 29, Literary Hub, 29 May 2025

Coming in at second place was Aguilar’s melancholic ranchera with nearly 22% of the vote. —Jessica Roiz, Billboard, 22 Apr. 2025

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