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

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Insoucism

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

Licotic

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

Heartworm

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

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above