melancholy Definition

melancholy
noun melancholies

1. A tendency to be gloomy or depressed.

Thesaurus: sadness, despair, wistfulness, dejection, depression, gloom, pensiveness, woe, glumness, blues, low spirits; Antonym: exhilaration.
2. Prolonged sadness.
3. A sad, pensive state of mind.

adj

1. Sad; causing or expressing sadness.

Thesaurus: sad, depressed, dejected, despondent, crestfallen, dispirited, downhearted, sombre, downcast, heavy-hearted; Antonym: cheerful, happy, joyful.

Derivative: melancholic
adj

Relating to or suffering from melancholia or melancholy. See also humour noun 6.

Etymology: 14c: from Greek melancholia, from melan black + chole bile, because the condition was once thought to be due to an excess of black bile in the body.