Aulasy

a blurry image of a house on the road

Aulasy

n.
the sadness that there’s no way to convey a powerful memory to people who weren’t there at the time—driving past your childhood home to show it to a friend, or pointing at a picture of a loved one you lost, only to realize that to them it’s just another house, just another face.

A contraction of auld lang syne, which is Scots for “times long past”—fragments of which are still present in aulasy, but the meaning has been lost. Pronounced “awl-uh-see.”

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

Looseleft

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

Hemeisis

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

Nighthawk

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

Affogatia

miscellaneous items on a table

Fellchaser

a blurred shadow of a person in a dark room

Immerensis

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

Rookish

a stone tower with a person seated on top

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter

Ledsome

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