as in sad
feeling unhappiness she becomes quite melancholic when she reflects on all the lost opportunities of her life

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of melancholic Backed by melancholic country sonics, the clip also captures them performing during a boxing match and highlights the early stages of their growing friendship. Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2025 More than the music or the melancholic nostalgia, though, what felt devastating was the realization of how rare the festival’s sense of collective possibility feels today. Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2025 The project alternates between details of everyday life—imbued with a surreal, universal quality—and delicate, melancholic landscapes alongside portraits of figures suspended in time, inhabiting their own oneiric world. Caterina De Biasio, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2025 The song’s TikTok traction picked up late last year when users began pairing it with clips capturing various melancholic moments. Xander Zellner, Billboard, 27 Aug. 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
  • Developers are taking an extended break from a slumping San Diego area office market beset by empty space, depressed demand and high construction costs.
    Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Real wages remain depressed and economic growth has stalled.
    Robert Birsel, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Pauline Collins, the exuberant British actress who inspired women — and men, too — to do something to change their unhappy lives with her Oscar-nominated and Olivier- and Tony-winning performances in Shirley Valentine, has died.
    Lisa de los Reyes, HollywoodReporter, 6 Nov. 2025
  • That distaste didn’t hurt Spanberger and her ticket, because 18% of those unhappy voters backed her anyway.
    David Weigel, semafor.com, 5 Nov. 2025
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
  • As the title suggests, the book details Turner's tale of a heartbroken widower who became an unlikely senior-citizen TV star on the first season of the reality show, which ended with an engagement to Nist.
    Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Thomas told the outlet that her brother’s diagnosis left their family heartbroken.
    Vanessa Etienne, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Zoning is not meant to be some sort of punishing thing meant to make a city miserable.
    Kim Velsey, Curbed, 5 Nov. 2025
  • But George appeared in just 41 games due to injury, while Embiid played in just 19 games, and the Sixers sagged to a miserable 24-58 finish.
    Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • The Fitzgerald's final moments shrouded in mystery, Lightfoot's mournful song, the number of lives lost, and the size of the ship alone led her to quickly become the most famous shipwreck in Michigan.
    Sarah Moore, Freep.com, 4 Nov. 2025
  • The zebras pranced, all frisky energy; the elephants, lumbering and mournful, trailed behind with their ancient thoughts.
    AFAR Media, AFAR Media, 30 Oct. 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

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Cite this Entry

“Melancholic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melancholic. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

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