melancholic
Americanadjective
-
disposed to or affected with melancholy; gloomy.
-
of, relating to, or affected with melancholia.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- melancholically adverb
- unmelancholic adjective
- unmelancholically adverb
Etymology
Origin of melancholic
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English melancolik, from Latin melancholicus, from Greek melancholikós; see melancholy, -ic
Explanation
Melancholic describes sadness, or a person who feels this way. Planning to go out dancing after seeing that melancholic movie? Don't be surprised if you feel more like sitting quietly, thinking, instead. Melancholic means thoughtfully sad — your summer could be melancholic if you spent the whole season feeling blue, or you might have a melancholic friend who seems sad even when he swears he's having a good time. The Greek root melankholia means sadness, but it also means black bile, a bodily secretion believed in Medieval physiology to cause people to feel melancholic.
Vocabulary lists containing melancholic
The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 8
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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And hitting all his elements perfectly to Chopin's haunting, melancholic "Nocturne No. 20" earned the young skater his season's best score of 85.65 points and a place in Friday's free skating final.
From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026
In “The Rest of Our Lives,” Tom is a modern melancholic, and some of the stops on his journey are to see people he wistfully associates with his youth.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025
In effect, Bublé wins the holiday-music race by virtue of his entire seasonal catalog, with lighter and melancholic songs alike.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 24, 2025
Andrew Panton, who owns the aircraft and the centre, is melancholic.
From BBC • Nov. 9, 2025
Take The Great Gatsby, for instance—the woman’s melancholic face against the city lights in the distance is the perfect representation of the quiet misery of that era.
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.