Mauerbauertraurigkeit

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

Mauerbauertraurigkeit

n.
the inexplicable urge to push people away, even close friends whose company you generally enjoy—like a poker player who keeps folding a promising hand in order to avoid the pain of losing, or tamp down the urge to go all-in.

German Mauerbauer, wall-builder + Traurigkeit, sadness. Pronounced “mou-er-bou-er-trou-rikh- kahyt.”

Énouement

a hand opening a curtain

Mcfeely

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

Clockwise

a close-up of flower along with polaroid pictures

Pithered

stacks of papers and folders piled high on a table

Foilsick

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

Looseleft

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