Melancholia
noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Deep sadness or gloom; melancholy countable, uncountable
- 2 extreme depression characterized by tearful sadness and irrational fears wordnet
- 3 depression, characterised by irrational fears, guilt and apathy countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"The aphorism is, how to say it?, the champagne of melancholia; each short statement encapsulates years of disillusionment distilled in a moment of intoxication."
Etymology
From Late Latin melancholia, which was in turn borrowed from the Ancient Greek medical term μελαγχολία (melankholía, “blackness of the bile”), from μέλας (mélas), μελαν- (melan-, “black, dark, murky”) + χολή (kholḗ, “bile”). Doublet of melancholy.
Related phrases
More for "melancholia"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.