Dolorblindness

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

Dolorblindness

n.
the frustration that you’ll never be able to understand another person’s pain, only ever searching their face for some faint evocation of it, then rifling through your own experiences for some slapdash comparison, wishing you could tell them truthfully, “I know exactly how you feel.”

Latin dolor, pain + colorblindness. Pronounced “doh-ler-blahynd-nis.”

Lisolia

a bookcase containing objects

Idlewild

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

Indosentia

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

Plata Rasa

Cover image for the Plata Rasa word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Deep Gut

Cover image for the Deep Gut word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Mimeomia

a person wearing an animal onesie garment

Leidenfreude

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

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child

Walloway

water faucet that seems to emanate from the ground

Ne’er-Be-Gone

Cover image for the Ne’er-Be-Gone word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Heart Of Aces

a person covering their eyes with their hands