Synonyms of melancholy

melancholy 1 of 2

adjective

1

as in sad

causing unhappiness

the melancholy thought of having to say good-bye to all the friends he had made over the summer

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sad
• depressing
• mournful
• pathetic
• unfortunate
• tearful
• heartbreaking
• disturbing
• saddening
• dreary
• drear
• dismal
• teary
• sorry
• heartrending
• distressful
• lamentable
• disquieting
• distressing
• deplorable
• poignant
• woeful
• grievous
• moving
• perturbing
• discomforting
• touching
• affecting
• discouraging
• dispiriting
• disheartening
• discomposing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• happy
• cheery
• glad
• uplifting
• inspiring
• pleasant
• stimulating
• stirring
• delightful
• agreeable
• heartening
• enjoyable
• satisfying
• welcome
• pleasurable
• pleasing
• cheering
• heartwarming
• exhilarating
• thrilling

2

as in depressed

feeling unhappiness

they were a bit melancholy after their youngest child left for college

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sad
• depressed
• unhappy
• heartbroken
• miserable
• bad
• mournful
• sorry
• melancholic
• sorrowful
• upset
• worried
• uneasy
• doleful
• gloomy
• hopeless
• disconsolate
• troubled
• forlorn
• downcast
• dejected
• disappointed
• glum
• woebegone
• joyless
• despondent
• inconsolable
• blue
• heartsick
• depressing
• crestfallen
• hangdog
• wretched
• suicidal
• woeful
• brokenhearted
• droopy
• saddened
• distressed
• heavyhearted
• low-spirited
• downhearted
• down
• low
• heartsore
• discouraged
• despairing
• down in the mouth
• grieving
• tearful
• cast down
• somber
• unquiet
• aggrieved
• sunk
• lugubrious
• weeping
• dispirited
• bleak
• morbid
• dolorous
• plaintive
• sombre
• lachrymose
• regretful
• morose
• desolate
• anguished
• elegiac
• rueful
• sullen
• disheartened
• grey
• cheerless
• gray
• dark
• wailing
• saturnine
• agonized
• dreary
• funereal
• drear
• dismal
• darkening
• comfortless
• black
• murky
• elegiacal

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• joyous
• joyful
• cheerful
• buoyant
• blissful
• happy
• upbeat
• jubilant
• cheery
• gleeful
• glad
• sunny
• exuberant
• euphoric
• rapturous
• ecstatic
• merry
• jovial
• exultant
• buoyed
• rhapsodic
• mirthful
• jolly
• delighted
• chipper
• optimistic
• blithe
• jocular
• enraptured
• jocose
• hopeful
• jocund
• excited
• sanguine
• rhapsodical
• rosy
• gladsome
• energetic
• blithesome
• spirited
• elated
• exhilarated
• gladdened
• lightsome
• lively
• vital
• vivacious
• overjoyed
• jaunty
• smiling
• sprightly
• animated
• entranced
• perky
• content
• frisky
• laughing
• satisfied
• peppy
• bouncing
• springy
• encouraged
• carefree
• careless
• lighthearted
• pleased
• zippy
• easygoing
• gratified
• thrilled
• unconcerned
• grinning
• insouciant
• cavalier
• beaming
• heartened
• boon
• sprightful
• happy-go-lucky
• devil-may-care

3

as in thoughtful

given to or marked by long, quiet thinking

a melancholy period in the artist's life that is reflected in his work

Synonyms & Similar Words

• thoughtful
• reflective
• somber
• philosophic
• pensive
• philosophical
• contemplative
• meditative
• ruminative
• solemn
• broody
• musing
• cogitative
• sombre
• serious
• ruminant
• logical
• introspective
• retrospective
• rational
• earnest
• analytical
• preoccupied
• analytic
• sober
• sedate
• deliberate
• self-reflective
• severe
• grave
• serious-minded
• purposeful
• abstracted
• weighty
• absentminded

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unreflective
• frivolous
• flippant
• goofy
• scatterbrained
• thoughtless
• silly
• flighty
• unthinking
• harebrained
• mindless
• light-headed
• featherbrained
• brainless

melancholy

2 of 2

noun

ˈme-lən-ˌkä-lē 

as in sadness

a state or spell of low spirits

the bleakness of winter sometimes gives me cause for melancholy

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sadness
• depression
• sorrowfulness
• mournfulness
• sorrow
• gloom
• grief
• anguish
• dejection
• gloominess
• blues
• unhappiness
• misery
• oppression
• glumness
• despair
• heartsickness
• dreariness
• desperation
• joylessness
• forlornness
• agony
• mourning
• despondence
• despondency
• dumps
• pain
• miserableness
• melancholia
• desolation
• mopes
• despond
• boredom
• downheartedness
• blue devils
• distress
• doldrums
• regret
• somberness
• disconsolateness
• self-pity
• dispiritedness
• dolefulness
• hopelessness
• discouragement
• woe
• wretchedness
• dolor
• ennui
• moroseness
• morbidness
• moodiness
• disheartenment
• drear
• tedium
• woefulness
• rue
• self-despair
• dismalness
• morosity

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• joy
• happiness
• exultation
• exuberance
• joyousness
• elation
• ecstasy
• euphoria
• intoxication
• bliss
• rapture
• jubilation
• gladness
• joyfulness
• exhilaration
• mirth
• gayety
• felicity
• heaven
• gaiety
• glee
• merriment
• humor
• jollity
• optimism
• joviality
• lightheartedness
• cheerfulness
• hopefulness
• blissfulness
• gayness
• cheeriness
• satisfaction
• mirthfulness
• contentment
• cheer
• gleefulness
• elatedness
• rapturousness
• content
• gladsomeness
• sunniness
• contentedness
• delight
• gratification

Examples of melancholy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The singer is respectfully skeptical, though tempted, and the melancholy tone and winding melody add heartbreaking tension to the encounter. —Tom Roland, Billboard, 9 Oct. 2024

The museum's permanent exhibits feature his paintings, prints and sketches, delving into themes of illness, melancholy, and nature. —Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2024

Noun

The Cosmically Beautiful Sadness of SOPHIE’s Posthumous Album The producer’s absence lends a poignant melancholy to even the most upbeat tracks. —James Factora, Them, 27 Sep. 2024

The exes play phone tag before Mindy informs a melancholy Gabriel that Emily is relocating to Rome. —Samantha Stutsman, Peoplemag, 17 Sep. 2024