melancholy
/ˈmɛlənkəli/noun, adjective
melancholy is spelled M-E-L-A-N-C-H-O-L-Y: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, melancholy means “Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of melancholy is melancholies.
How many letters and syllables are in melancholy?
| Letters | 10: M-E-L-A-N-C-H-O-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,342nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is melancholy?
Melancholy appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce melancholy?
- UK /ˈmɛlənkəli/
- British /ˈmɛlənk(ə)lɪj/
- British /ˈmɛlənˌkɔlɪj/
Melancholy has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-melancholy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of melancholy
- melancholies plural
- more melancholy comparative
- most melancholy superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does melancholy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.
Melancholy, cold and dry, thick, black, and sour, […] is a bridle to the other two hot humours, blood and choler, preserving them in the blood, and nourishing the bones.
- 2
Great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
As to Ernest... He is quite as nervously broken down as I am but it manifests itself in different ways. His inclination is towards megalomania and mine towards melancholy.
adjective
- 1
Affected with great sadness or depression.
Melancholy people don't talk much.
- 2
Suggestive of wistfulness or subdued emotion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Melancholy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Sadness or depression:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mélancolie |
| German | Melancholie, Schwermut, Wehmut |
| Portuguese | melancolia |
| Spanish | melancolía, engurrio, melarchía, flato |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does melancholy come from?
From Middle English malencolie, from Old French melancolie, from Ancient Greek μελαγχολία (melankholía, “atrabiliousness”) (from μέλας (mélas), μελαν- (melan-, “black, dark, murky”) + χολή (kholḗ, “bile”)), referring to the humour which ancient Hippocratic and later Galenic medicine associated with sadness and despondency. Compare the Latin ātra bīlis (“black bile”). The adjectival use is a Middle English innovation, perhaps influenced by the suffixes -y, -ly. Doublet of melancholia.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).