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.”

Rasque

close-up of the shards of a broken vase

Hickering

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

Ecury

a close-up of cave drawings and symbols

Maugry

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

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Immerensis

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