1. A feeling of thoughtful sadness
   "A sense of melancholy overcame him as he remembered happier times"
    
2. A constitutional tendency to be gloomy and depressed
   "Her melancholy was evident in her sombre paintings"
    
3. [archaic] A humour that was once believed to be secreted by the kidneys or spleen and to cause sadness and melancholy
   "In ancient medicine, an excess of melancholy was thought to cause depression";
   - black bile

1. Characterized by, causing or expressing sadness
   "growing more melancholy every hour"; "we acquainted him with the melancholy truth";
   - melancholic
    
2. Grave or even gloomy in character
   "a suit of melancholy black";
   - somber [US], sombre [Brit, Cdn]

Derived forms: melancholies

See also: cheerless, depressing, sad, uncheerful

Type of: bodily fluid, body fluid, depression, humor [US], humour [Brit, Cdn], liquid body substance, sadness, unhappiness

Encyclopedia: Melancholy