Kenaway

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

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.”

Walloway

water faucet that seems to emanate from the ground

Fygophobia

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

Catoptric Tristesse

Cover image for the Catoptric Tristesse word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Proluctance

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

Ecury

a close-up of cave drawings and symbols

Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed