Epistrix

several doors standing in a dark room

Epistrix

n.
a disconcerting cluster of endings that all seem to happen at once; a random barrage of departures and closures and divorces and series finales and celebrity deaths, which leaves you anxiously aware that the author of your story seems to be wrapping up an awful lot of loose ends.

Ancient Greek ἐπὶ- (epi-), on top of + ὕστριξ (hystrix), a porcupine. To sit on a porcupine is to feel the pain of too many endings all at once. Pronounced “ih-pis-triks.”

Yeorie

a woman with tendrils of smoke moving across her face

Tarrion

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

Wildred

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

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

Future-Tense

a person looking at their reflection

Anti-Aliasing

Cover image for the Anti-Aliasing word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows