Lap Year

several people racing bicycles uphill in a forest

Lap Year

n.
the age at which you become older than your parents were when you were born, which signals that your stage of the race has already begun, having spent years coasting in their slipstream as they tackled the mountain stages of life, leaving you strong, energetic, and deeply mortified by their loud yellow jerseys.

From lap, one full circuit around a course + gap year, a regenerative break between adjacent stages of life. In the Tour de France, the cyclist with the lowest time receives a ceremonial yellow jersey and the right to start the next stage.

Mithenness

a person standing on the side of a road

Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter

Echthesia

blurry image of two clocks

Nowlings

a pile of black and white puzzle pieces

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child

Anticious

a group of men in hats looking at elevated signage

Affogatia

miscellaneous items on a table

Kerisl

piles of old books scattered in an abandoned room

Appriesse

a blurry image of a person looking at mounted images

Midsummer

a person standing in a garden holding a clock

Etterath

a graduation cap and gown on a chair

Anecdoche

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

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Foreclearing

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

Etherness

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

Kairosclerosis

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

Lackout

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

Keep

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

Walloway

water faucet that seems to emanate from the ground

Angosis

a table full of food