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.”

Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Ellipsism

a hand clawing at a wall

Angosis

a table full of food

Future-Tense

a person looking at their reflection

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Starlorn

snow flakes in the dark

Aponemia

a group of people standing together

Nodrophobia

close-up of a stained shirt

Mogging Folly

a person sitting on a bench

Adomania

a person riding a horse

Moriturism

a person resting in the back seat of a car

Aoyaoia

a person holding a guitar

Tornomov

a cloudy sky and landscape

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

Achenia

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

Karanoia

a neat stack of white paper

Eftless

a person with hands pressed on a window

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Etherness

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

Nighthawk

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

Xeno

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

Trueholding

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

Altschmerz

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

Hanker Sore

Cover image for the Hanker Sore word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Skidding

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

The Kinder Surprise

Cover image for the The Kinder Surprise word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows