Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Ecsis

n.
the haunting sense of mystery infused into certain random details that beckons you to wonder how it ended up here at this point in time—marveling at a patch of white on a dog’s chest, a bubble trapped in an old window, a glimpse of Saturn’s rings shivering in a telescope lens—knowing that behind the thing itself is a long chain of causes and effects that veers off into the shadows of prehistory, anchored somewhere near the dawn of time, even though the end result is somehow right there in front of you, shimmering in place.

Indonesian eksis, to exist, to be. Pronounced “ek-sis.”

Rookish

a stone tower with a person seated on top

Nemotia

a city with clouds of smoke

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

Beloiter

a person sitting at a slot machine

Boorance

a group of objects on a table

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Kadot

a person looking at an abstract spiral

Rialtoscuro

a blurry image of a light source

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Starlorn

snow flakes in the dark

Future-Tense

a person looking at their reflection

Moriturism

a person resting in the back seat of a car

Wollah

a person with shapes raining on them

Offtides

close-up of a chromed metal object

Ironsick

a group of random devices

Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed

Galagog

a person alone in a snowy desolate landscape

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Star-Stuck

a man walking towards a door with a large question mark

Scrough

a person working on the sidewalk

Mornden

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

Agnosthesia

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

Amentalio

a person in a white dress, facing away

Jouska

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

Tarrion

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

Wenbane

a person standing on a ledge looking at a city skyline

Querinous

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