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Obscurity vs Melancholy - What's the difference?

obscurity | melancholy | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between obscurity and melancholy

is that obscurity is darkness; the absence of light while melancholy is black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.

As an adjective melancholy is

affected with great sadness or depression.

obscurity

English

(wikipedia obscurity)

Noun

  • (label) Darkness; the absence of light.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1907, author=
    • , chapter=6, title= The Dust of Conflict , passage=The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board her desired when the schooner Ventura headed for the land. It rose in places, black and sharp against the velvety indigo, over her dipping bow, though most of the low littoral was wrapped in obscurity .}}
  • * 1919 ,
  • *:I walked in, and Stroeve followed me. The room was in darkness. I could only see that it was an attic, with a sloping roof; and a faint glimmer, no more than a less profound obscurity , came from a skylight.
  • The state of being unknown; a thing that is unknown.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
    • , chapter=5, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=The departure was not unduly prolonged.
  • The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand.

    • Related terms

    * obscure

    melancholy

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Affected with great sadness or depression.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
    • , chapter=1 citation , passage=“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes

    Synonyms

    * (thoughtful sadness) (l) * See also

    Noun

    (melancholies)
  • (historical) Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.
  • *, Bk.I, New York 2001, p.148:
    • 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.
  • Great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
  • * 1593 , (William Shakespeare), , V. i. 34:
    • My mind was troubled with deep melancholy .

    Related terms

    * melancholic * sadness