melancholy
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a feeling of sadness that is quiet and thoughtful rather than sharp or sudden.
n.a deep, pensive, and long-lasting sadness, often without a specific immediate cause. Uncountable in this abstract sense.
Simple“A feeling of melancholy came over him as he walked through his old school.”
In context“The rainy afternoon induced a profound sense of melancholy, leading her to reflect on the choices she had made in her youth.”
- 02 C2 Proficiency
n.in old medicine, one of the four liquids in the body thought to control a person's mood.
n.one of the four cardinal humours in ancient and medieval medicine, believed to cause a gloomy temperament when in excess.
Simple“Ancient doctors believed that too much melancholy in the body made people sad.”
In context“The physician attributed the patient's lethargy to an imbalance of melancholy, prescribing a specific diet to restore the bodily humours.”
Synonymsblack bile - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.feeling or showing a quiet, thoughtful sadness.
adj.affected with or expressing a pensive and long-lasting sadness.
Simple“The movie ended with a melancholy song that made everyone feel a bit sad.”
In context“He sat in the corner of the café with a melancholy expression, staring out at the empty street for hours.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
adj.making you feel a gentle, thoughtful sadness.
adj.suggestive of or causing a state of wistful or subdued emotion.
Simple“The old house had a melancholy beauty that was hard to describe.”
In context“The cello's melancholy notes echoed through the hall, perfectly capturing the tragic themes of the performance.”
“He was a lutenist, composer, singer and master of melancholy, opting for cheery titles to his songs such as In Darkness Let Me Dwell and Flow My Tears.”
“They spoke with a rasping melancholy of the depths of human fallibility and of fates that were not to be trusted.”
From Middle English malencolie, from Old French melancolie, from Ancient Greek μελαγχολία (melankholía, “atrabiliousness”), from μέλας (mélas), μελαν- (melan-, “black, dark, murky”) + χολή (kholḗ, “bile”). Compare the Latin ātra bīlis (“black bile”). The adjectival use is a Middle English innovation, perhaps influenced by the suffixes -y, -ly. Doublet of melancholia.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.