Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Dystoria

n.
a feeling of irrelevance from the broader forces of history; the sense that your life has no relationship to any great mission, no generational hardship, not even an enemy—feeling as harmless as a droplet skittering down a window, that could’ve just as easily taken part in a tidal wave.

Latin dys-, bad + historia, history. Pronounced “dis-toh-ree-uh.”

The Meantime

Cover image for the The Meantime word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

The Kinder Surprise

Cover image for the The Kinder Surprise word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Fawtle

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

Idlewild

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

Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed