Aimonomia

close-up of a plant with lights glowing in background

Aimonomia

n.
the fear that learning the name of something—a bird, a constellation, an attractive stranger—will somehow ruin it, inadvertently transforming a lucky discovery into a conceptual husk pinned in a glass case, leaving one less mystery fluttering around in the universe.

French aimer, to love + nom, name. A palindrome. Pronounced “eym-uh-nohm-ee-uh.”

Adomania

a person riding a horse

Aponemia

a group of people standing together

Kadot

a person looking at an abstract spiral

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Furosha

a storm raging in the sky over a building

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Starlorn

snow flakes in the dark

Tornomov

a cloudy sky and landscape

Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Karanoia

a neat stack of white paper

Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Ironsick

a group of random devices

Achenia

a close-up of a bottle with an organic object inside

Lilo

Cover image for the Lilo word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Dolorblindness

Cover image for the Dolorblindness word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Hobsmacked

Cover image for the Hobsmacked word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Thwit

close-up of a person with forehead wrinkled and holding their head

Mottleheaded

Cover image for the Mottleheaded word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Hemeisis

Cover image for the Hemeisis word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Querinous

Cover image for the Querinous word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Elsing

Cover image for the Elsing word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows