Question 1 · Quick check
melancholy
CEFRC1
/ˈmɛlənkəli/
noun · adjective
Türkçe translations
Translating…
In plain English
- 01
noun
A deep, quiet feeling of sadness.
- 02
noun
Extra detailAffected with great sadness or depression.
Examples
He was overcome by a feeling of melancholy.
We sensed a melancholy note in his voice.
At a glance
Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale
- Senses
- 5
- Parts of speech
- 2
- Citations
- 5
- Synonyms
- 5
Also pronounced
- /ˈmɛl.ənˌkɑ.li/
Deep Dive
noun
Extra meaningsGreat sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.
adjective
Extra meaningSuggestive of wistfulness or subdued emotion.
More examples
In contextAs to Ernest... He is quite as nervously broken down as I am but it manifests itself in different ways. His inclination is towards megalomania and mine towards melancholy.
Melancholy people don't talk much.
Melancholy, cold and dry, thick, black, and sour, […] is a bridle to the other two hot humours, blood and choler, preserving them in the blood, and nourishing the bones.
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Nearby
Origin
noun
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”)), referring to the humour which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with sadness and despondency. 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.