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.”

Mogging Folly

a person sitting on a bench

Offtides

close-up of a chromed metal object

Arroia

people standing on a stage

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Achenia

a close-up of a bottle with an organic object inside

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Tornomov

a cloudy sky and landscape

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Ellipsism

a hand clawing at a wall

Suerza

a tunnel with a light emanating from the end

Nemotia

a city with clouds of smoke

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Ironsick

a group of random devices

Moriturism

a person resting in the back seat of a car

Wollah

a person with shapes raining on them

Karanoia

a neat stack of white paper

Fawtle

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

Los Vidados

Cover image for the Los Vidados word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Lackout

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

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Gaudia Civis

a close-up of a gear

Anecdoche

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

Covalent Bond

Cover image for the Covalent Bond word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Vicarous

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

Keir

a snowy landscape with trees and a fence