# melancholically

**Pronunciation:** /ˌmel.ənˈkɒl.ɪ.kli/ · mel-un-KOL-i-klee

**CEFR level:** C1

**Part of speech:** adverb

## Meaning

In a way that expresses a deep, thoughtful, and often prolonged sadness, especially for reasons that are not immediately obvious.

## Examples

- She hummed a tune melancholically as she packed away her childhood toys.
- The jazz saxophone played a melancholically slow melody that filled the smoky room.
- He looked at the faded photograph melancholically, remembering happier times.

## Synonyms

- sadly — General term for feeling or showing unhappiness.
- sorrowfully — Expressing deep distress or grief.
- mournfully — Expressing grief or sorrow, often in a quiet or prolonged way.
- wistfully — With a feeling of vague or regretful longing.
- melancholily — A more direct, though less common, adverbial form of melancholy.

## Antonyms

- happily — In a cheerful and joyful manner.
- joyfully — With great pleasure and delight.
- cheerfully — In a bright and optimistic way.

## Common patterns

- melancholically at — To look at something with a sad or thoughtful expression. — He gazed melancholically at the setting sun.
- melancholically hummed — To hum a tune in a sad or thoughtful manner. — She melancholically hummed a lullaby her mother used to sing.

## Collocations

- play melancholically — The violin played melancholically, evoking a sense of loss.
- look melancholically — She looked melancholically at the empty swing set.
- sigh melancholically — He sighed melancholically, reflecting on his past mistakes.

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