Idlewild

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

Idlewild

adj.
feeling grateful to be stranded in a place where you can’t do much of anything—sitting for hours at an airport gate, the sleeper car of a train, or the backseat of a van on a long road trip—which temporarily alleviates the burden of being able to do anything at any time and frees up your brain to do whatever it wants to do, even if it’s just to flicker your eyes across the passing landscape.

From Idlewild, the original name of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.

Ecury

a close-up of cave drawings and symbols

The Standard Blues

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

Affogatia

miscellaneous items on a table

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Lackout

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

Manusia

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