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.”

Vellichor

shelves with many books stacked and organized

Harke

a dreamlike image of a person's face over water

Amentalio

a person in a white dress, facing away

Mithenness

a person standing on the side of a road

Thwit

close-up of a person with forehead wrinkled and holding their head

Keyframe

a large rock in the water with emanating ripples

Austice

a leaf imprint in the mud

Aftersome

rows of opaque and clear marbles

Clockwise

a close-up of flower along with polaroid pictures

Rasque

close-up of the shards of a broken vase

Aulasy

a blurry image of a house on the road

Keir

a snowy landscape with trees and a fence

Apolytus

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

Volander

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

Inerrata

a hand holding a broken cup

Cullaways

a lone sand castle on a beach at low tide

Fata Organa

Cover image for the Fata Organa word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Yeorie

a woman with tendrils of smoke moving across her face

Covalent Bond

Cover image for the Covalent Bond word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Chrysalism

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

Merrenness

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