melancholic

English

Alternative forms

melancholick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μελαγχολικός (melankholikós, “atrabilious, impulsive, of atrabilious or melancholic temperament”), from μελαγχολία (melankholía, “melancholy”). Effectively, its English equivalent is melancholy +‎ -ic.

Adjective

melancholic (comparative more melancholic, superlative most melancholic)

Filled with or affected by melancholy—great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
- 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], OCLC 5634253:
  Just as the melancholic eye / Sees fleets and armies in the sky.
(dated) Pertaining to black bile (melancholy).
(classical temperament) Pertaining to the melancholic temperament or its associated personality traits.

Translations

filled with or affected by melancholy

Bulgarian: меланхоличен (bg) (melanholičen)
Catalan: melancòlic (ca), malenconiós (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 憂鬱／忧郁 (zh) (yōuyù)
Czech: melancholický (cs)
Danish: melankolsk
Dutch: melancholisch (nl), droevig (nl)
Esperanto: melankolia
Finnish: apea (fi), melankolinen (fi), alakuloinen (fi), haikea (fi), surumielinen
French: mélancolique (fr)
Galician: melancólico
Georgian: ნაღვლიანი (naɣvliani), სევდიანი (sevdiani)
German: melancholisch (de), schwermütig (de)
Greek: μελαγχολικός (el) (melancholikós)
Ancient: δύσθυμος (dústhumos), σκυθρωπός (skuthrōpós)
Hebrew: מלנכולי‎ (melanḥoli), דכדוך‎ (he) (dikhdókh)
Indonesian: melankolis (id)
Interlingua: melancholia
Irish: dúchroíoch
Italian: malinconico (it), melancolico
Japanese: 憂鬱な (ja) (ゆううつな, yūutsu na), 鬱病の (ja) (うつびょうの, utsubyō no)
Latin: melancholicus, maestus
Luxembourgish: melancholesch
Maori: kainatu, matapōuri, ruku popoi, rāwakiwaki
Norwegian:
Bokmål: sørgmodig, melankolsk (no)
Nynorsk: sørgmodig, melankolsk
Old English: drēoriġ
Polish: melancholiczny (pl), melancholijny (pl)
Portuguese: melancólico (pt)
Romanian: melancolic (ro)
Russian: меланхоли́ческий (ru) (melanxolíčeskij), меланхоли́чный (ru) (melanxolíčnyj)
Sanskrit: खिन्न (sa) (khinna)
Scots: dowie
Scottish Gaelic: mulad m, èislean m, dòlasachd f, tùirse f, dubhachas m, cianalas m, truime f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: снужденост f, утученост f
Roman: snuždenost (sh) f, utučenost (sh) f, melankòličan (sh)
Slovak: ^{(please verify)} melanchólia
Spanish: melancólico (es)
Swedish: melankolisk (sv)
Tagalog: lukulok
Tatar: меланхолик (melanxolik)
Turkish: melankolik (tr), hüzünlü (tr), kederli (tr)
Ukrainian: меланхо́лічний m (melanxóličnyj)
Volapük: glumaladäl (vo)

Noun

melancholic (plural melancholics)

A person who is habitually melancholy.
- 2008 March 16, Garrison Keillor, “Woe Be Gone”, in New York Times‎:
  Kafka, Hart Crane, Jackson Pollock, Tennessee Williams, Mark Rothko, melancholics all, so why shouldn’t we accept our own bleakness and take long walks in the winter woods and look at the gnarled limbs of trees and struggle with the inscrutable and accept the beauty of permanent turmoil?

Translations

a person who is habitually melancholy

Bulgarian: меланхолик (bg) m (melanholik)
Esperanto: melankoliulo
Polish: melancholik (pl) m, melancholiczka (pl) f
Russian: меланхо́лик (ru) m (melanxólik)
Ukrainian: меланхо́лік m (melanxólik)