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.”

Future-Tense

a person looking at their reflection

Nemotia

a city with clouds of smoke

Aimonomia

close-up of a plant with lights glowing in background

Eftless

a person with hands pressed on a window

Offtides

close-up of a chromed metal object

Elosy

a blurry image of a person in a subway car

Arroia

people standing on a stage

Caucic

a close-up of a stone walking path

Boorance

a group of objects on a table

Aoyaoia

a person holding a guitar

Mogging Folly

a person sitting on a bench

Wollah

a person with shapes raining on them

Galagog

a person alone in a snowy desolate landscape

Moriturism

a person resting in the back seat of a car

Nodrophobia

close-up of a stained shirt

Suerza

a tunnel with a light emanating from the end

Beloiter

a person sitting at a slot machine

Angosis

a table full of food

Tillid

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

The Standard Blues

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

Heartspur

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

Harmonoia

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

Deep Gut

Cover image for the Deep Gut word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Zielschmerz

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

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Malotype

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

Adomania

a person riding a horse