1.
You describe something that you see or hear as ~ when it gives you an intense feeling of sadness.
The only sounds were the distant, ~ cries of the sheep...
ADJ
2.
Melancholy is an intense feeling of sadness which lasts for a long time and which strongly affects your behaviour and attitudes. (LITERARY)
I was deeply aware of his ~ as he stood among the mourners...
N-UNCOUNT
3.
If someone feels or looks ~, they feel or look very sad. (LITERARY)
It was in these hours of the late afternoon that Tom Mulligan felt most ~...
He fixed me with those luminous, empty eyes and his ~ smile.
ADJ