Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Grayshift

n.
the tendency for future goals and benchmarks to feel huge when viewed in advance, only to fade into banality as soon as you’ve achieved them—finally reaching the top of the ladder, only to notice it circling back around like a hamster wheel.

A variation on redshift and blueshift, the astronomical processes that make objects moving away look redder than they really are, and objects moving toward you look bluer.

Rookish

a stone tower with a person seated on top

Galagog

a person alone in a snowy desolate landscape

Boorance

a group of objects on a table

Nemotia

a city with clouds of smoke

Karanoia

a neat stack of white paper

The Giltwrights

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

Kinchy

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

Nodrophobia

close-up of a stained shirt

Fensiveness

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

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Tarrion

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

Zysia

a kite soaring above an empty landscape

Achenia

a close-up of a bottle with an organic object inside