Caucic

a close-up of a stone walking path

Caucic

adj.
afraid that the rest of your life is already laid out in front of you, that you’re being swept inexorably along a series of predictable milestones—from school to graduation to career to marriage to kids to retirement to death—which makes you wish you could pull off to the side of the road for a little while, to stretch your legs and spread out the map so you can double-check that you’re headed the right way.

Middle English cauci, path or road + caustic, able to burn or corrode living tissue. Pronounced “kaw-sik.”

Incidental Contact High

Cover image for the Incidental Contact High word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Solla, Solla, Solla

a hand reaching out for plant tendril

Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Scrough

a person working on the sidewalk

Sitheless

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

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child