Appriesse

a blurry image of a person looking at mounted images

Appriesse

n.
the feeling of loss that you never had a chance to meet a certain person before they died, which compels you to try to get to know them anyway, gathering snapshots and stories to build out a sketch of who they were, learning them like a character in a novel, which makes them feel all the more alive even though you’ve already skipped ahead and read the last page.

Latin appretiare, to appraise + ad pressum, after. Pronounced “ap-ree-es.”

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child

Pithered

stacks of papers and folders piled high on a table

Echthesia

blurry image of two clocks

Lisolia

a bookcase containing objects

Tirosy

a close-up of a young child's face

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter

Ecury

a close-up of cave drawings and symbols

Yeorie

a woman with tendrils of smoke moving across her face

Énouement

a hand opening a curtain

Epistrix

several doors standing in a dark room

Appriesse

a blurry image of a person looking at mounted images

Daguerreologue

Daguer-reologue

a man sitting in blurred silhouette at a desk

Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books

Archimony

a person looking at broken furniture

Blinkback

a wall full of pictures and objects

Walloway

water faucet that seems to emanate from the ground

Zysia

a kite soaring above an empty landscape

Anticious

a group of men in hats looking at elevated signage

Fool’s Guilt

Cover image for the Fool’s Guilt word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Incidental Contact High

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

Offtides

close-up of a chromed metal object

Gaudia Civis

a close-up of a gear

Future-Tense

a person looking at their reflection

Bareleveling

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

Funkenzwangsvorstellung

Funkenzwang-svorstellung

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

Starlorn

snow flakes in the dark