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.”

Catoptric Tristesse

Cover image for the Catoptric Tristesse word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Elsing

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

Adronitis

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

Scabulous

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

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Ringlorn

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