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.”

Amentalio

a person in a white dress, facing away

Sayfish

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

Anaphasia

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

The Giltwrights

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

Mcfeely

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

Kuebiko

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