A novel series of donor (D)-π-acceptor (A) merocyanine molecules harnessed with intramolecular chalcogen bonding (ChaB) is designed, synthesized, and characterized. ChaB comprises periodic chalcogen atoms, S, Se, and Te, and a neighboring oxygen atom of a carbonyl moiety. Compared to the D-π-A merocyanine dye with nontraditional intramolecular hydrogen bonding, the novel molecules with an intramolecular ChaB exhibit remarkably smaller absorption spectral widths and higher absorption coefficients attributed to their cyanine-like characteristics approaching the resonance parameter (