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.”

Ellipsism

a hand clawing at a wall

Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed

Rialtoscuro

a blurry image of a light source

Rookish

a stone tower with a person seated on top

Leidenfreude

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

Nyctous

a person walking in the middle of a street

Endzoned

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

Keir

a snowy landscape with trees and a fence

Galagog

a person alone in a snowy desolate landscape

Zysia

a kite soaring above an empty landscape

Vaucasy

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

The Til

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

Altschmerz

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