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

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Mottleheaded

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

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Hemeisis

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

Funkenzwangsvorstellung

Funkenzwang-svorstellung

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

La Gaudière

Cover image for the La Gaudière word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Anticious

a group of men in hats looking at elevated signage

Kairosclerosis

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

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal