How do you use the word "melancholy" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "melancholy": We sensed a melancholy note in his voice. He was overcome by a feeling of melancholy.

Melancholy Meaning

/ˈmɛlənkəli/

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounBlack bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.

nounGreat sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.

Sentence Examples

We sensed a melancholy note in his voice.

He was overcome by a feeling of melancholy.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

sad depressing somber

Antonyms:

glad cheerful

CEFR Practice Quiz

She felt a deep ____ after hearing the terrible news from the doctor.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The cold and rainy weather總是 leaves him feeling a bit ____ and longing for the warm summer days.

Word Origin & History

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.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"My mind was troubled with deep melancholy." — 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], line 34:

"I have neither the scholar’s melancholy, which is emulation; nor the musician’s, which is fantastical; nor the courtier’s, which is proud; nor the soldier’s, which is ambitious; nor the lawyer’s, which is politic; nor the lady’s, which is nice; nor the lover’s, which is all these; but it is a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many simples, extracted from many objects, and, indeed, the sundry contemplation of my travels; in which my often rumination wraps me in a most humorous sadness." — c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

""The ancients referred melancholy to the mind, the moderns make it matter of digestion—to either case my plan applies," said Lady Mandeville." — 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 111:

"[…] he is melancholy without cause, and merry against the hair: […]" — c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

"“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. […] And then, when you see [the senders], you probably find that they are the most melancholy old folk with malignant diseases. […]”" — 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words