Word
melancholic
Phoneticsmelan·cholic
US/ˌmɛɫənˈkɑɫɪk/
UK/mˌɛlənkˈɒlɪk/
Definition
n. a person who is often sad or has a very sad mood. This word is quite old-fashioned and people rarely use it in modern conversation.
n. a person prone to or affected by melancholy.
Examples
“The melancholic wandered the streets at dusk.”
“In the old play, the melancholic spends the entire second act alone in the garden, reflecting on his past.”
“The poet's melancholic was a figure of great introspection, often depicted in the margins of the court, observing the festivities with a sense of quiet sorrow.”
Examples
simple
“The melancholic wandered the streets at dusk.”
contextual
“In the old play, the melancholic spends the entire second act alone in the garden, reflecting on his past.”
complex
“The poet's melancholic was a figure of great introspection, often depicted in the margins of the court, observing the festivities with a sense of quiet sorrow.”
Real-World Examples
“Other roads were open: film score Tenkiller signalled their avant garde potential, sometimes channelling Scott Walker’s Bish Bosch, while In the Earth Again’s melancholic singer-songwriter tracks promised untapped emotional depths.” “Although she knows nostalgia can be a “dirty word” among artists, McGurn says that “a melancholic grappling with the past is part of painting”.” Etymology
From Latin melancholicus, from Ancient Greek μελαγχολικός (melankholikós, “atrabilious, impulsive, of atrabilious or melancholic temperament”), from μελαγχολία (melankholía, “melancholy”). By surface analysis, melancholy + -ic.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.