1
as in sad
causing unhappiness
the melancholy thought of having to say good-bye to all the friends he had made over the summer
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in depressed
feeling unhappiness
they were a bit melancholy after their youngest child left for college
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3
as in thoughtful
given to or marked by long, quiet thinking
a melancholy period in the artist's life that is reflected in his work
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in sadness
a state or spell of low spirits
the bleakness of winter sometimes gives me cause for melancholy
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of melancholy
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 June 2025
The commercial, as many may recall, features a montage of animal clips set to the melancholy ballad.
—Marina Watts, People.com, 26 June 2025
Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 15 June 2025
With melancholy and playfulness both, Seed threads in her own introspective voice-over and contemporary footage (poring over material, visiting her dad, sparring with a boyfriend).
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for melancholy
Adjective
In this evocative, melancholy tale, an Italian champion racer is tasked with driving a car from Italy into Russia.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 June 2025
The commercial, as many may recall, features a montage of animal clips set to the melancholy ballad.
—Marina Watts, People.com, 26 June 2025
Noun
That betrayal, like so many others, fed the melancholy in Brian's music.
—Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 15 June 2025
With melancholy and playfulness both, Seed threads in her own introspective voice-over and contemporary footage (poring over material, visiting her dad, sparring with a boyfriend).
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for melancholy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melancholy
Adjective
-
Too much alcohol and your dreamy dessert turns into a sad, semi-frozen slush.—
Emily Price,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
-
All three movies are packed with dinosaurs—dinosaurs running, dinosaurs being sad and winsome, dinosaurs showing ruthless disregard for human life.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
30 June 2025
Adjective
-
Screenshot from a July 1 TikTok video of a depressed golden retriever waiting for her dog dad to return 1 1/2 years after a breakup.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 July 2025
-
The law expands opportunity zones and extends tax benefits for investing in inner cities and economically depressed rural areas.—
Stephen Moore,
Boston Herald,
9 July 2025
Adjective
-
The dress even has thoughtful front pockets for stashing goods on the go.—
Mariana Best,
Better Homes & Gardens,
4 July 2025
-
Director Hyuk Jae-kwon creates a seductively eerie mood with thoughtful visual effects and discordant background noises.—
Joan MacDonald,
Forbes.com,
4 July 2025
Adjective
-
That this show could mark a turning point for free speech and the First Amendment is just too depressing to contemplate.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
2 July 2025
-
But already there are major depressing effects on the ports and warehousing that are important contributors to California's economy.—
James Bickerton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 June 2025
Adjective
-
This gives the creditor an additional target to pursue and make very unhappy which can indirectly put pressure on the debtor to pay the judgment.—
Jay Adkisson,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2025
-
Circulation increased and the publication won two Pulitzer Prizes, but the owner, conservative Harry Guggenheim, was unhappy with the paper’s shift to the left, and he and Moyers were divided over the Vietnam War and the 1968 presidential election.—
Carmel Dagan,
Variety,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
Faculty at Ivy League and other top schools are encouraged to revisit their course policies regularly, experiment with new pedagogical methods, and guide students through the process of using AI in responsible, reflective ways.—
Christopher Rim,
Forbes.com,
7 July 2025
-
On July 5, the low angle of the sun will cast prominent shadows along the eastern rim of the impact crater, while highlighting reflective debris streaks known as ejecta rays that were cast out during its creation some 800 million years ago.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
5 July 2025
Noun
-
Composting locations don’t need to be perfectly level, but selecting a spot that doesn’t have any significant inclines or depressions makes compost piles much easier to manage.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
30 June 2025
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However, the series main character, Mi-ji, has been able to move past the depression that kept her from chasing her ambitions for years.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
30 June 2025
Adjective
-
Once abundant on the island, this ground-foraging dove – with an earthy red-brown plumage and a quiet, mournful call – disappeared from the wild by 1972.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
5 July 2025
-
Several of her patients left mournful messages on the Yelp page of her Arcadia practice.—
Clara Harter
Follow,
Los Angeles Times,
4 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Melancholy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melancholy. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
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