as in sad
feeling unhappiness
she becomes quite melancholic when she reflects on all the lost opportunities of her life
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Recent Examples of melancholic
The melancholic project plays like a farewell.
—
Kim Willis, USA Today, 17 Nov. 2025
Her most memorable role, however, was her subversive take on wife Linda Loman in Broadway’s 1999 Death of a Salesman production opposite Brian Dennehy’s melancholic traveling salesman Willy Loman.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 15 Nov. 2025
Tsypkin’s account of dramatic summer of gambling and deathbed prayers is accompanied by his own melancholic photographs of nondescript walls and windows, taken on a research trip to Leningrad.
—Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
Stephen Frears’s Gothic drama is, to be fair, rather watchable — atmospheric and melancholic, with John Malkovich clearly getting a kick out of chewing any and all available scenery.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for melancholic
Kim Willis, USA Today, 17 Nov. 2025
Her most memorable role, however, was her subversive take on wife Linda Loman in Broadway’s 1999 Death of a Salesman production opposite Brian Dennehy’s melancholic traveling salesman Willy Loman.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 15 Nov. 2025
Tsypkin’s account of dramatic summer of gambling and deathbed prayers is accompanied by his own melancholic photographs of nondescript walls and windows, taken on a research trip to Leningrad.
—Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
Stephen Frears’s Gothic drama is, to be fair, rather watchable — atmospheric and melancholic, with John Malkovich clearly getting a kick out of chewing any and all available scenery.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for melancholic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melancholic
Adjective
-
Everyone's a little sad in The Holdovers, Alexander Payne's charmingly sour comedy about a student stuck at his New England boarding school over the holidays with only his grouchy professor (Paul Giamatti) and the school cook (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) for company.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 Nov. 2025
-
The 25-year-old wide receiver is sad to see his teammates go, but trusts the vision of the New York front office.—
Matt Audilet,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Countries such as the Netherlands and Canada that passed similar bills have gone on to expand this type of legislation to allow doctors to give lethal medication to the depressed and other people with mental illnesses.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Yes, our political leaders have given some of us reason to be resentful, cynical and even depressed.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
This is a no-win situation because one of us will end up unhappy.—
Jeanne Phillips,
Mercury News,
9 Jan. 2026
-
The automaker spent much of the year undoing decisions made by the previous CEO, Carlos Tavares, who resigned at the end of 2024, as stakeholders in the company — from dealers to union rank and file — were upset with him and unhappy with his leadership.—
Liam Rappleye,
USA Today,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Johnson, Evans and Pascal – and while certainly thoughtful, the film's strengths are upended by a mood-murdering melancholy.—
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
-
The day of the hearing, Vande Kolk climbed into his truck and headed home, feeling melancholy.—
Jamie Thompson,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
After Anna disappeared, Alice was heartbroken.—
Sam Reed,
Glamour,
9 Jan. 2026
-
A day after the shooting, Chez’s heartbroken parents proclaimed at a press conference outside the 101st Precinct stationhouse in Far Rockaway that their son posed no threat.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
On a tour full of reasons to be miserable, England will leave Australia with at least one ray of light for the future.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
-
The series centers around Timmy Turner, a miserable 10-year-old whose life improves significantly after he is given two fairy godparents named Wanda and Cosmo.—
Will Harris,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
This internal struggle is portrayed with raw honesty, focusing on the darker, mournful corners of humanity that inspired the record’s lyrics.—
Robert Lang,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2026
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Other tracks channel the mournful energy of the most political ’70s dub.—
Andrew Ryce,
Pitchfork,
22 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Iran is facing its worst drought in decades, raising fears of evacuations in Tehran while threatening the regime’s stability and nuclear ambitions, according to a leading environmental expert.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
10 Nov. 2025
-
Keeping bad things out of my body.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Melancholic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melancholic. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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