Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed

Knellish

adj.
afraid to relax your body and drift off to sleep because you can’t help but notice how much it rhymes with death—lying flat on your back, your hands clumped on your chest, trying to force yourself to let go of consciousness, knowing you’ll almost certainly find your grip again but unsure exactly how that happens.

Armenian քնել (k’nel), sleep + knell, a ringing announcement of a death. Pronounced “nel-ish.”

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Looseleft

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

Anthrodynia

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

Anchorage

a person's arm extended over river rapids

Liberosis

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

Ioia

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