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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 26 May 2026
But most memorably, the Bellucci plays a lonely, melancholy artist living on the farm whose role holds the key to the movie’s (however narrow) emotional strengths.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 22 May 2026
David John Chávez, Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2026
Fanning’s name was the first called when nominations were announced, signaling that Scandinavian melancholy would be notably absent that morning.
—Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for melancholy
Adjective
Linda Perry has a zero tolerance policy for Billy Corgan’s melancholy and infinite sadness.
—Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 26 May 2026
But most memorably, the Bellucci plays a lonely, melancholy artist living on the farm whose role holds the key to the movie’s (however narrow) emotional strengths.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 22 May 2026
Noun
This is not to say the play is 95 minutes of melancholy.
—David John Chávez, Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2026
Fanning’s name was the first called when nominations were announced, signaling that Scandinavian melancholy would be notably absent that morning.
—Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for melancholy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melancholy
Adjective
-
The other six ascended to the highest office in the land as a result of the dysfunction that has made Peru a punch line in political-science circles, a sad story of ungovernability played on a loop.—
Daniel Alarcón,
New Yorker,
4 June 2026
-
There’s a one-note quality to the film’s comedy that grows steadily, even deliberately, more abrasive over two hours, but the sad, brash, gradually shrinking bigness of the personalities at its center holds your attention.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
4 June 2026
Adjective
-
One reason Red Sea traffic remains depressed is because ships can bypass it and avoid the security risk altogether by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.—
Spencer Kimball,
CNBC,
30 May 2026
-
As anxiety has mounted about depressed entry-level hiring, with Gen Z crowds even booing luminaries such as Eric Schmidt amid commencement speeches touting AI, Dimon has given warm but blunt advice to ambitious young workers.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
There was an eight-pillow menu to choose from, which was a thoughtful touch.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
1 June 2026
-
The in-room bar offered a thoughtful curation of Turkish snacks and treats, such as potato chips made from tubers grown in the surrounding Nevşehir region and a chocolate bar handmade by an Istanbul chocolatier.—
Anya von Bremzen,
Travel + Leisure,
31 May 2026
Noun
-
The relationships Anaya and her teammates created will long outlast the sadness from getting outplayed Friday.—
Ethan Hanson,
Daily News,
30 May 2026
-
In a Facebook post, the Islamic Center drew connections between the holiday, the community’s sadness and the sacrifice the men made.—
Roxana Popescu,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2026
Adjective
-
Almost a year out to sea is very depressing.—
Steve Walsh,
NPR,
23 May 2026
-
Some sendoffs are mundane; others are downright depressing.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
Adjective
-
What’s leaving one unhappy child at home compared to sending five hundred people home from the theatre happy?—
Deborah Treisman,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
-
Shohei Ohtani almost became the most unhappy pitcher to ever be part of throwing a no-hitter.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
Designed by a team that includes Burns & McDonnell, Zahner, an architectural metal fabricator, and KEM Studio, the pavilion features a reflective metal canopy inspired by the reflection and flow of the Missouri River.—
Eric Adler,
Kansas City Star,
30 May 2026
-
This inward, reflective energy will be around longer than usual as Mercury slows to a station retrograde in Cancer on June 29, extending its stay there all the way into early August.—
Kirah Tabourn,
Condé Nast Traveler,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
Schizophrenia, bipolar, autism, anxiety, depression – all of these topics are almost global bestsellers.—
Jon LaPook,
CBS News,
31 May 2026
-
Environmental conditions appear conducive for additional development, and a tropical depression is likely to form in early June, Berg wrote.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
30 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Melancholy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melancholy. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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