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

Nowlings

a pile of black and white puzzle pieces

Tarrion

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

Wellium

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

Yeorie

a woman with tendrils of smoke moving across her face

Suente

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

Vellichor

shelves with many books stacked and organized

Insoucism

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

Anechosis

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

Siso

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