# melancholic vs melancholy

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### melancholic
*adjective · frequency rank #39,423*
Filled with or affected by melancholy—great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.

### melancholy
*noun · IPA /ˈmɛlənkəli/ · frequency rank #17,414*
Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melancholic-vs-melancholy