melancholy JUST WRITTEN FOR YOU
/ˈmelənkəli/ · mel·an·col·y
noun
- Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four cardinal humours of animal bodies. In medieval physiology, melancholy was believed to arise from an excess of black bile.
- Great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature. She felt a deep melancholy as she watched the autumn leaves fall.
adjective
- Affected with great sadness or depression. The melancholy poet wrote verses that lingered in the heart.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Did you know? The term 'melancholy' originates from the ancient Greek belief that an excess of black bile caused sadness, a theory that persisted into medieval medicine. Shakespeare famously used the word in Hamlet's soliloquy, describing the 'melancholy Dane'.