Backmasking

a woman's face with a double exposure

Backmasking

n.
the instinctive tendency to see someone as you knew them in their youth—a burned-in image of grass-stained knees, graffitied backpacks, or handfuls of birthday cake, superimposed on an adult with a mortgage, or children of their own.

In audio recording, backmasking is a technique wherein a sound is deliberately recorded backward, so it’s only intelligible when played in reverse.

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

Antiophobia

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

Archimony

a person looking at broken furniture

Bareleveling

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

Elsing

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

Hobsmacked

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

Dolorblindness

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

Ledsome

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

Chrysalism

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

Trueholding

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