MELANCHOLY: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for MELANCHOLY?

Need another word that means the same as “melancholy”? Find 17 synonyms and 30 related words for “melancholy” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Melancholy” are: black bile, desolation, sadness, pensiveness, woe, sorrow, melancholia, melancholic, somber, sombre, sad, sorrowful, desolate, mournful, lugubrious, gloomy, pensive

Melancholy as a Noun

Definitions of "Melancholy" as a noun

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “melancholy” as a noun can have the following definitions:

• A feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause.
• A humor that was once believed to be secreted by the kidneys or spleen and to cause sadness and melancholy.
• A feeling of thoughtful sadness.
• A constitutional tendency to be gloomy and depressed.

Synonyms of "Melancholy" as a noun (7 Words)

black bile	A person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa.
desolation	An event that results in total destruction. In choked desolation she watched him leave.
melancholia	Extreme depression characterized by tearful sadness and irrational fears. The haunting melancholia that dominates the album.
pensiveness	Deep serious thoughtfulness.
sadness	The state of being sad. A source of great sadness.
sorrow	An event or circumstance that causes sorrow. He tried to express his sorrow at her loss.
woe	Misery resulting from affliction. The Everton tale of woe continued.

Usage Examples of "Melancholy" as a noun

• An air of melancholy surrounded him.
• He had an ability to convey a sense of deep melancholy and yearning through much of his work.
• At the centre of his music lies a profound melancholy and nostalgia.

Melancholy as an Adjective

Definitions of "Melancholy" as an adjective

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “melancholy” as an adjective can have the following definitions:

• Grave or even gloomy in character.
• Characterized by or causing or expressing sadness.
• Causing or expressing sadness; depressing.
• Having a feeling of melancholy; sad and pensive.

Synonyms of "Melancholy" as an adjective (10 Words)

desolate	Providing no shelter or sustenance. The desolate surface of the moon.
gloomy	Dark or poorly lit, especially so as to appear depressing or frightening. Gloomy at the thought of what he had to face.
lugubrious	Excessively mournful. His face looked even more lugubrious than usual.
melancholic	Suffering from or denoting a severe form of depression. His work often has a wistful or melancholic mood.
mournful	Feeling, expressing, or inducing sadness, regret, or grief. Mournful news.
pensive	Showing pensive sadness. A pensive mood.
sad	Of things that make you feel sad Christina Rossetti. I was sad and subdued.
somber	Grave or even gloomy in character. A suit of somber black.
sombre	Dark or dull in colour or tone. The night skies were sombre and starless.
sorrowful	Experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss- Proverbs 14:13. She looked at him with sorrowful eyes.

Usage Examples of "Melancholy" as an adjective

• She felt a little melancholy.
• The melancholy tone of her writing.
• Growing more melancholy every hour.
• We acquainted him with the melancholy truth.
• A dark, melancholy young man with deep-set eyes.

Associations of "Melancholy" (30 Words)

blue	Blue color or pigment resembling the color of the clear sky in the daytime. He had eyes of bright blue.
cheerless	Gloomy; depressing. The corridors were ill lit and cheerless.
contemplative	A person devoted to the contemplative life. Contemplative knowledge of God.
dejected	Sad and depressed; dispirited. Is dejected but trying to look cheerful.
depressed	(of a person) in a state of unhappiness or despondency. A depressed fracture of the skull.
depression	A period during the 1930s when there was a worldwide economic depression and mass unemployment. The depression in the housing market.
despair	A state in which all hope is lost or absent. They moaned in despair and dismay.
despondency	Feeling downcast and disheartened and hopeless. An air of despondency.
despondent	Without or almost without hope. She grew more and more despondent.
disappointment	A person or thing that causes disappointment. To her disappointment there was no chance to talk privately with Luke.
dismal	Pitifully or disgracefully bad. He shuddered as he watched his team s dismal performance.
dreary	Depressingly dull and bleak or repetitive. The dreary round of working eating and trying to sleep.
elegiac	Verses in an elegiac metre. An elegiac lament for youthful ideals.
gloom	Have a dark or sombre appearance. A black yew gloom d the stagnant air.
grief	Trouble or annoyance. We were too tired to cause any grief.
grim	Harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance- J.M.Barrie. Few creatures thrive in this grim and hostile land.
homesickness	A feeling of longing for one’s home during a period of absence from it. I lived four years in London without a single pang of homesickness.
hopeless	Beyond hope of management or reform. I m hopeless at names.
lamentation	The passionate and demonstrative activity of expressing grief. Scenes of lamentation.
loneliness	Sadness because one has no friends or company. The loneliness of a sailor s life.
mourning	The passionate and demonstrative activity of expressing grief. She s still in mourning after the death of her husband.
nostalgia	Something done or presented in order to evoke feelings of nostalgia. An evening of TV nostalgia.
pensive	Showing pensive sadness. A pensive mood.
pessimism	The feeling that things will turn out badly. The dispute cast an air of deep pessimism over the future of the peace talks.
sadness	The quality of excessive mournfulness and uncheerfulness. It is one of life s sadnesses.
somber	Lacking brightness or color; dull. A somber mood.
sorrow	An event or circumstance that causes sorrow. A bereaved person needs time to work through their sorrow.
sorry	Feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone. A sorry horse.
unhappy	Generalized feeling of distress. After the argument they lapsed into an unhappy silence.
wistful	Showing pensive sadness. A wistful smile.