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.”

Pithered

stacks of papers and folders piled high on a table

Foilsick

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

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

Nodrophobia

close-up of a stained shirt

Austice

a leaf imprint in the mud

Hanker Sore

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