melancholy
- A deep, pensive, and long-lasting sadness or gloom.
- Having or expressing a quality of thoughtful sadness.
In a sentence
- A profound melancholy settled over him as he packed away his late father's belongings.
- The minor-key sonata had a melancholy beauty that moved the audience to silence.
Usage note. Melancholy often carries a reflective, even beautiful quality that distinguishes it from blunt 'sadness'; use it when the emotion has a pensive, lingering character rather than sharp grief.
Where it comes from
Middle English melancholy — “pensive sadness” · entered English 14th c.
From Greek 'melankholia', composed of 'melas' (black) and 'kholē' (bile), reflecting the ancient humoral theory that an excess of black bile caused depression. It passed through Latin 'melancholia' and Old French 'melancolie' before entering Middle English. The word arrived in English in the 14th century.