Elsing

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

Elsing

n.
the unconscious habit of looking at someone and seeing only a cartoon of what they represent to you, their face obscured by a superimposed image of someone else entirely—your mother, your school bully, or yourself in another time—which makes you wonder what others must see when they look at you from across the room.

From else. Pronounced “el-sing.”

Desanté

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

Symptomania

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

Keep

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

The Standard Blues

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

Heartspur

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

Aesthosis

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

The Giltwrights

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

Punt Kick

Cover image for the Punt Kick word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Addleworth

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

Sayfish

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

Solysium

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

The Wends

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

1202

Cover image for the 1202 word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

The Meantime

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

Insoucism

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

Vicarous

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

Proluctance

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

Apolytus

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

Anticious

a group of men in hats looking at elevated signage

Drisson

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

Ludiosis

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

The Wends

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

Aponemia

a group of people standing together

Innity

a neatly made bed with diffused light glowing

Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books

Exulansis

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

Fardle-Din

Cover image for the Fardle-Din word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows