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.”

Angosis

a table full of food

The Meantime

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

Drisson

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

Tornomov

a cloudy sky and landscape

Rialtoscuro

a blurry image of a light source

Harke

a dreamlike image of a person's face over water