Anaphasia

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

Anaphasia

n.
the fear that your society is breaking apart into factions that have nothing left in common with each other—each defending their own set of values, referring to their own cult figures, speaking in their own untranslatable language.

From anaphase, the stage in cell division when sister chromatids are pulled apart to opposite sides of the cell + aphasia, the inability to comprehend or formulate language due to brain dysfunction. Pronounced “an-uh-fey-zhah.”

Backmasking

a woman's face with a double exposure

Nodrophobia

close-up of a stained shirt

Elsing

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

Rookish

a stone tower with a person seated on top

Thwit

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

Achenia

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