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.”

Viadne

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

Etherness

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

Rivener

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

Justing

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

Galagog

a person alone in a snowy desolate landscape

Nullness

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