melancholic
melancholic Lexical Profile
melancholic Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Feeling, expressing, or characterized by a deep, pensive, and lingering sadness.
"The cellist played a slow, melancholic melody that left the entire concert hall in reflective silence."
Relating to or having a temperament naturally prone to introspection, gloominess, or severe depression.
"In Renaissance literature, the scholar was frequently portrayed as a solitary, melancholic figure."
• noun
A person who is habitually prone to melancholy, deep sadness, or clinical depression.
"The philosopher wrote extensively as a self-described melancholic searching for meaning in human suffering."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'melancholic' and 'melancholy' are largely interchangeable as adjectives, 'melancholic' is more frequently chosen when describing a person's enduring temperament or clinical state, whereas 'melancholy' is slightly more common in literary descriptions of moods, music, or landscapes.
• Rhymes for melancholic
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed via Old French and Late Latin from Ancient Greek 'melancholikos', derived from 'melancholia' ('black bile', from 'melas' meaning 'black' and 'chole' meaning 'bile'). In ancient and medieval humoral medicine, an excess of black bile secreted by the spleen or kidneys was believed to cause a gloomy, depressive temperament.