melancholia.

1. A deep or enduring sadness, often with withdrawn or reflective brooding.

2. A term historically used for depressive illness, also appearing in specialized discussions of melancholic depression.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• air of melancholia
• persistent melancholia
• a mood of melancholia

On the page

An air of melancholia settled over the letters.

The portrait conveyed a quiet melancholia.

His walks became longer during the months of melancholia.

Usage notes

Primary category: gothic. Forms: Usually mass; no ordinary plural needed. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.