Arroia

people standing on a stage

Arroia

n.
the wish that you could’ve enjoyed a dry run of your life—muddling through once quickly, then going back to do it all over again, this time for real.

Spanish arroyo, a dried-up streambed waiting for a storm, literally a “dry run.” Pronounced “uh-roi-uh.”

Adomania

a person riding a horse

Aponemia

a group of people standing together

Kadot

a person looking at an abstract spiral

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Furosha

a storm raging in the sky over a building

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Starlorn

snow flakes in the dark

Tornomov

a cloudy sky and landscape

Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Karanoia

a neat stack of white paper

Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Ironsick

a group of random devices

Achenia

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

Volander

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

On Tenderhooks

Cover image for the On Tenderhooks word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

The Wends

Cover image for the The Wends word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Jouska

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

Lilo

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

Elsing

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

Altschmerz

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

Rialtoscuro

a blurry image of a light source

Inerrata

a hand holding a broken cup