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.”

Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Beloiter

a person sitting at a slot machine

Future-Tense

a person looking at their reflection

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Moriturism

a person resting in the back seat of a car

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Aimonomia

close-up of a plant with lights glowing in background

Suerza

a tunnel with a light emanating from the end

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

Eftless

a person with hands pressed on a window

Aponemia

a group of people standing together

Ironsick

a group of random devices

Karanoia

a neat stack of white paper

Galagog

a person alone in a snowy desolate landscape

Arroia

people standing on a stage

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Adomania

a person riding a horse

Immerensis

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

Offtides

close-up of a chromed metal object

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Etherness

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

Starlorn

snow flakes in the dark

Waldosia

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

Funkenzwangsvorstellung

Funkenzwang-svorstellung

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

Elsing

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

Manusia

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