Etherness

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

Etherness

n.
the wistful feeling of looking around a gathering of loved ones, all too aware that even though the room is filled with warmth and laughter now, it won’t always be this way—that the coming years will steadily break people away into their own families, or see them pass away one by one, until there comes a time when you’ll look back and try to imagine what it felt like to have everyone together in the same place.

From ether, an intoxicating compound that evaporates very quickly + togetherness. Pronounced “eth-er-nis.”

Bareleveling

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

Aimonomia

close-up of a plant with lights glowing in background

Mithenness

a person standing on the side of a road

Aftergloom

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

Mottleheaded

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

Nodrophobia

close-up of a stained shirt