Anticious

a group of men in hats looking at elevated signage

Anticious

adj.
wondering what our ancestors would think of all this; haunted by the awareness that our world was designed by the dead, who spent their lives trying to flesh out every detail but never got to see how it all turned out—who might well think of the present as an impossible dream, a missed opportunity, or the end of the world as they knew it.

From antecedent, predecessor or ancestor + anxious. Pronounced “an-tish-uhs.”

Epistrix

several doors standing in a dark room

Aftersome

rows of opaque and clear marbles

Daguerreologue

Daguer-reologue

a man sitting in blurred silhouette at a desk

Archimony

a person looking at broken furniture

Austice

a leaf imprint in the mud

Vellichor

shelves with many books stacked and organized

Halfwise

a train coming towards the camera shot from the tracks

Inerrata

a hand holding a broken cup

Tirosy

a close-up of a young child's face

Pithered

stacks of papers and folders piled high on a table

O’Erpine

a person looking at a grave

Harke

a dreamlike image of a person's face over water

Keyframe

a large rock in the water with emanating ripples

Backmasking

a woman's face with a double exposure

Ecury

a close-up of cave drawings and symbols

Blinkback

a wall full of pictures and objects

Zysia

a kite soaring above an empty landscape

Present-Tense

a close-up of a stopwatch

Punt Kick

Cover image for the Punt Kick word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Altschmerz

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

Aftergloom

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

Galagog

a person alone in a snowy desolate landscape

Nodrophobia

close-up of a stained shirt

Heartspur

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

Trueholding

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

Incidental Contact High

Cover image for the Incidental Contact High word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows