Fygophobia

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

Fygophobia

n.
the fear that your connections with people will keep dwindling as you get older; that one by one, you’ll all go flying off the merry-go-round in wildly different directions, sailing through various classes and jobs and interests, ultimately landing in far-flung neighborhoods where you’ll hunker down with your families plus a handful of confidants you see a few times a year, perpetually reassuring each other, “We should keep in touch.”

Greek φύγω (fýgo), I leave + -φοβία (-phobía), fear. Compare the Greek φυγόκεντρος (fygókentros), centrifuge. Pronounced “fahy-goh-foh-bee-uh.”

Antiophobia

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

Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Star-Stuck

a man walking towards a door with a large question mark

Rasque

close-up of the shards of a broken vase

Cullaways

a lone sand castle on a beach at low tide

Dorgone

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