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.

Heartspur

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

Eisce

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Harke

a dreamlike image of a person's face over water

Apolytus

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Blinkback

a wall full of pictures and objects

The Til

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