Exulansis

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

Exulansis

n.
the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it—whether through envy or pity or mere foreignness—which allows it to drift away from the rest of your story, until it feels out of place, almost mythical, wandering restlessly in the fog, no longer even looking for a place to land.

Latin exulans, exile, wanderer, derived from the Latin name of the Wandering Albatross, diomedea exulans, who spend most of their life in flight, rarely landing, going hours without even flapping their wings. The albatross is a symbol of good luck, a curse, and a burden, and sometimes all three at once. Pronounced “ek-suh-lan-sis.”

Rückkehrunruhe

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

Slipfast

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

Licotic

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

Justing

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

Trumspringa

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

Volander

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

Wildred

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

Gobo

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

Ghough

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

Mahpiohanzia

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

Ringlorn

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

Idlewild

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

Plata Rasa

Cover image for the Plata Rasa word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Chrysalism

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

Vulture Shock

Cover image for the Vulture Shock word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Occhiolism

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

Harmonoia

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

Jouska

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

Agnosthesia

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

Nullness

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

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child

Lookaback

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

Amentalio

a person in a white dress, facing away

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Anderance

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

Ringlorn

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

O’Erpine

a person looking at a grave