Kenaway

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Kenaway

n.
the longing to see how other people live their lives when they’re not in public; wishing you could tune in to the raw feed of another human existence, in all its messiness and solitude—shimmying in place while brushing their teeth, squabbling over where to put the shoes, talking out their problems on solitary commutes—if only to give you something to compare your own life against, and figure out whether you’re bizarrely normal or normally bizarre.

From ken, one’s range of knowledge + keep-away, a game in which one player tries to intercept a ball being tossed back and forth by two others. Pronounced “ken-uh-wey.”

Hobsmacked

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Latigo

aerial view of a city at night

Wenbane

a person standing on a ledge looking at a city skyline

Eisce

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Allope

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Anti-Aliasing

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Lockheartedness

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Innity

a neatly made bed with diffused light glowing

Nyctous

a person walking in the middle of a street

Heartmoor

a campfire with a kettle many small logs

Hailbound

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Mimeomia

a person wearing an animal onesie garment

Xeno

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Anaphasia

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Pâro

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Eigenschauung

Eigen-schauung

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Gaudia Civis

a close-up of a gear

Anechosis

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Apolytus

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Moledro

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Mcfeely

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Thrapt

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Rasque

close-up of the shards of a broken vase

Anchorage

a person's arm extended over river rapids

Hickering

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Maugry

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Kenaway

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