Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of melancholy

120 similar words

Another word for melancholy is ill-being. Other synonyms of melancholy are depression, misery, sadness, sorrow and grief.

Synonyms and similar words for melancholy

nounGreat sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.

  • despondencyA feeling of depression or disheartenment.
  • miseryGreat unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
  • bluenessMelancholy.
  • tristesse literarySadness.
  • mirthlessLacking mirth; devoid of joy; sad.
  • bluesA feeling of sadness or depression.
  • crestfallennessThe quality of being crestfallen.
  • dejectionA state of melancholy or depression; low spirits, the blues.
  • depressionA state of mind producing serious, long-term lowering of enjoyment of life or inability to visualize a happy future...
  • distress
  • dolefulnessThe characteristic of being doleful; sadness.
  • downheartednessThe characteristic of being downhearted; sadness.
  • forlornnessThe state or characteristic of being forlorn; sadness; loneliness.
  • griefEmotional pain, generally arising from misfortune, significant personal loss, bereavement, misconduct of oneself or...
  • ill-beingThe state of being ill, unhealthy, or unhappy; misery; miserableness.
  • infelicity
  • melancholiaDeep sadness or gloom; melancholy.
  • mourn literarySorrow, grief.
  • sadnessThe state or emotion of being sad.
  • sorrowUnhappiness, woe.
  • sorrowfulnessThe quality or state of sorrow; sadness.
  • tristfulnessSadness; sorrow; melancholy.
  • undelightThe condition or feeling of lacking delight; unhappiness or displeasure.
  • unhappinessThe feeling of not being happy.
  • woeGreat sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.
  • woefareDiscontentment; sorrow; unhappiness.
  • wretchednessAn unhappy state of mental or physical suffering.
  • drearihead obsoleteSadness; dreariness.
  • heartsore rareHeartache, misery, grief.
  • mishappiness obsoleteUnhappiness; wretchedness; misery.
  • prosternation obsoleteDejection; depression.
  • regret obsolete
  • rue archaic, dialectalSorrow; repentance; regret.
  • ruth obsoleteDistress, misery, sorrow.

adjectiveAffected with great sadness or depression.

  • melancholicFilled with or affected by melancholy—great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
  • atrabiliary
  • atrabiliousCharacterized by melancholy.
  • blithelessWithout happiness or joy; unjoyful; sorrowful; sad.
  • dispiritedWithout energy, gusto or drive, enervated, without the will to accomplish, disheartened.
  • blueDepressed, melancholic, sad.
  • bummed outDepressed, disappointed, in a gloomy mood.
  • chapfallenCrestfallen, dejected.
  • cheerlessDevoid of cheer; gloomy.
  • chopfallenSynonym of chapfallen.
  • crestfallen
  • cut up Australia, UKEmotionally upset; mentally distressed.
  • damp figuratively
  • dejectedSad and dispirited.
  • depressedUnhappy; despondent.
  • despondentIn low spirits from loss of hope or courage.
  • disgruntledIn a dissatisfied, frustrated, or upset mood; in a bad temper or ill humour.
  • disconsolateCheerless, dreary.
  • disheartenedDiscouraged, despairing.
  • dismalCausing despair; gloomy and bleak.
  • dolefulFilled with grief, mournful, bringing feelings of sadness.
  • dolesomeCharacterised or marked by sorrow and grief; doleful; dismal; gloomy.
  • downSad, unhappy, depressed, feeling low.
  • down in the dumpsSad; lacking engagement or enthusiasm.
  • down in the mouthSad or discouraged, especially as indicated by one's facial appearance.
  • downcastOf a person: feeling despondent or discouraged.
  • downheartedSad, discouraged, in low spirits, unhappy, having no hope.
  • downsomeLow-spirited; melancholy.
  • dullBored, depressed, down.
  • elegiacExpressing sorrow or mourning.
  • elegiousMelancholy, miserable, plaintive.
  • forlornPitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
  • gloomySuffering from gloom; melancholy; dejected.
  • glumDespondent; moody; sullen.
  • grief-strickenVery sad.
  • grievingFeeling or showing sorrow or distress due to loss, especially the death of someone.
  • heavy-heartedSad, melancholic.
  • heartsickVery despondent or sorrowful; heartsore.
  • inconsolableNot consolable; unable to be consoled or comforted, usually due to grief, disappointment, or other distress.
  • infelicitous
  • jawfallenDejected, dispirited.
  • joylessWithout joy; unhappy, sad.
  • lachrymoseTearful, sorrowful, sad, pertaining to tears, weeping, causing tears or crying.
  • lowDepressed in mood, dejected, sad.
  • low-spiritedDisheartened, feeling low, in low spirits.
  • lugubriousGloomy, mournful or dismal, especially to an exaggerated degree.
  • miserableIn a state of misery: very sad, ill, or poor.
  • moodySulky or depressed.
  • mopeyGiven to moping; in a depressed condition, low in spirits; lackadaisical.
  • moroseSullen, gloomy; showing a brooding ill humour.
  • mournfulFilled with grief or sadness; being in a state in which one mourns.
  • plaintiveSounding sorrowful, mournful or melancholic.
  • PlutonianOf, relating to, or having characteristics associated with the underworld; dark, gloomy; mournful.
  • PlutonicSynonym of Plutonian (“of, relating to, or having characteristics associated with the underworld; dark, gloomy...
  • querulousOften complaining; suggesting a complaint in expression; fretful, whining.
  • ruthfulFull of sorrow; sorrowful; woeful; rueful.
  • sadFeeling sorrow; sorrowful, mournful.
  • saddened
  • saturnineOf a person: having a tendency to be cold and gloomy.
  • shatteredEmotionally defeated or dispirited.
  • solemnCheerless, gloomy, sombre.
  • sombreDark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
  • sorrowfulExhibiting sorrow; dejected; distraught; sad. (of a person).
  • sorrow-riddenFilled with sorrow or sorrows.
  • sorrowsomeMarked by sorrow; sad; dreary; sorrowful.
  • spiritlessLacking energy, drive, motivation or emotion. Enervated.
  • sullenGloomy; dismal; foreboding.
  • threneticSorrowful; mournful.
  • threneticalThrenetic.
  • uncheerfulNot cheerful.
  • uncheeryNot cheery; gloomy, pessimistic.
  • unconsolableSynonym of inconsolable.
  • unhappyNot happy; sad.
  • unlivelyNot lively.
  • wistfulSad and thoughtful.
  • woebegoneOf a person: deeply affected or overwhelmed by suffering or trouble, and so filled with woe (“great distress or...
  • woefulFull of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity.
  • wretchedCharacterized by or feeling deep affliction or distress; very miserable.
  • comfortlessOf a thing: offering no comfort; uncomforting.
  • bleakUnhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate.
  • darkConducive to hopelessness; depressing or bleak.
  • depressingCausing depression or sadness.
  • desolateDismal or dreary.
  • direExpressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal.
  • drearDreary.
  • drearisomeCharacterised or marked by dreariness.

Meaning of melancholy

  1. noun Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.
  2. noun Great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
  3. adjective Affected with great sadness or depression.

Full definition of melancholy

melancholy in other languages

Questions about synonyms of melancholy

What is another word for melancholy?
Melancholy has 120 synonyms on Word.ws, such as ill-being, depression, misery, sadness, sorrow, grief, woe and unhappiness.
What does melancholy mean?
Melancholy means black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: melancholy (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “Synonyms of melancholy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/melancholy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.