Melancholy
Melancholy adjective - Feeling unhappiness.
Usage example: she was a bit melancholy after her youngest child left for college
Rueful is a synonym for melancholy in unhappy topic. In some cases you can use "Rueful" instead an adjective "Melancholy".
Nearby Words: melancholic, melancholia
Rueful
Rueful adjective - Expressing or suggesting mourning.
Usage example: the rueful faces of friends and family who had gathered to pay their last respects
Melancholy is a synonym for rueful in feeling topic. Sometimes you can use "Melancholy" instead an adjective "Rueful", if it concerns topics such as unhappy, woebegone, regretful.
Nearby Words: ruefulness, ruefully
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
Cite this Source
Rueful and Melancholy. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/melancholy/rueful
Melancholy & Rueful. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/melancholy/rueful>.
Rueful or Melancholy. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/melancholy/rueful.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "melancholy" and "rueful" have occurred on timeline