Aubadoir

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

Aubadoir

n.
the otherworldly atmosphere just before 5 a.m., when the bleary melodrama of an extremely late night becomes awkwardly conflated with the industrious fluorescence of a very early morning.

French aubade, an ode to the morning + abattoir, slaughterhouse. Pronounced “oh-bah-dwahr.”

Tillid

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

Angosis

a table full of food

Nighthawk

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

Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed

Vicarous

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