noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English sadnesse seriousness, firmness, from sad (I) + -nesse -ness
1. : the quality or state of being sad : sorrowfulness , unhappiness , gloominess
2. : an instance (as a mood or an appearance) of being sad : something sorrowful, gloomy, or depressing
she talked about death as she spoke … of any of the sadnesses of nature — Willa Cather
Synonyms:
depression , melancholy , melancholia , dejection , gloom , blues , dumps : sadness is a general term usually without implications about cause or intensity of unhappy feeling
conscious of a profound sadness which was not grief — Arnold Bennett
a certain sense of desolation and sadness — A.C.Benson
depression may indicate a brooding, listless, sullen, or despondent condition in which one usually feels let down, disheartened, enervated, or inadequate
never before, in any mood of depression, had she given evidence of suicidal thoughts — Havelock Ellis
many youngsters are conscious of a vast depression when entering the portals of a university; they feel themselves inadequate to cope with the wisdom of the ages garnered in the solid walls — G.D.Brown
melancholy now is likely to indicate a mood or mental condition marked by sad and serious pensiveness
the wit, the gaiety of spirit tinged with a tender melancholy — W.H.Hudson †1922
melancholia may indicate a settled deep depression verging on insanity
the excited phase is called mania and its counterpart is known as melancholia. In the former there is a slaphappy hilarity and a disregard of the conventional restraints, while the latter phase is marked by mournful and self-accusatory ideas and a countenance disfigured by despair — R.S.Ellery
dejection is close to depression but may apply to a more temporary mood and suggest a natural cause or logical reason
it was the last of the regiment's stay in Meryton, and all the young ladies in the neighborhood were drooping apace. The dejection was almost universal — Jane Austen
these notable victories of the mind, from which so much was hoped, have had for result not so much increased happiness as disquiet, have made for dejection rather than rejoicing — W.M.Dixon
gloom may suggest the dark and dispiriting overall atmosphere or effect of depression or dejection
the leaden gloom of one who has lost all that can make life interesting, or even tolerable — Thomas Hardy
the gloom that now lay over it in a dead and menacing quietude and stagnation — Walter de la Mare
blues simply indicates low spirits
suffering from a sharp attack of the blues. A feeling of depression and foreboding had taken possession of him. The present seemed empty and futile, the future dark with intangible calamity — F.W.Crofts
dumps , now usually used only in the phrase in the dumps, may indicate a deeper, more sullen and cheerless state than that indicated by blues
in the dumps about his stock market losses