What Is Melancholy? Definition And Usage Of This Term

What Is Melancholy? Definition And Usage Of This Term

WHAT IS MELANCHOLY – In this topic, we will first know the definition of this term and how is this term used in sentences.

Definition

The Oxford Dictionary described this term as the following:

• a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause.
• having a feeling of melancholy; sad and pensive
• causing or expressing sadness; depressing

On the other hand, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines this term as the following:

• depression of spirits
• a pensive mood
• an abnormal state attributed to an excess of black bile and characterized by irascibility or depression
• suggestive or expressive of sadness or depression of mind or spirit
• causing or tending to cause sadness or depression of mind or spirit

Synonyms and Antonyms

Here are the following synonyms and antonyms of the term:

• Synonyms
  • desolation
  • sadness
  • pensiveness
  • woe
  • sorrow
  • melancholia
  • sad
  • sorrowful
  • desolate
  • melancholic
  • mournful
• Antonyms
  • happiness
  • contentment
  • pleasure
  • contentedness
  • satisfaction
  • cheerfulness
  • delight
  • good spirits
  • high spirits
  • light-heartedness
  • good cheer

Etymology

It is a Middle English term which is derived from the Old French melancolie, which is derived from Greek melankholia, which is derived from melas or melan-, which means “black”, and kholē, which means ‘bile’,

Examples

Here are some of the following examples:

• He had many melancholy reflections of his old school days
• “Comfortable. Just like an old slipper,” he replied, with just a hint of melancholy in his voice.
• Boris sketched two trees in the album and wrote: “Rustic trees, your dark branches shed gloom and melancholy upon me.”
• His nature was timid, lethargic and melancholy, and his court was not marked by the scandals which had been seen under Henry IV.

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