Monachopsis

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

Monachopsis

n.
the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place, as maladapted to your surroundings as a seal on a beach, lumbering and clumsy, huddled in the company of other misfits, dreaming of life in your natural habitat, a place where you’d be fluidly, brilliantly, effortlessly at home.

Ancient Greek μοναχός (monakhós), single, solitary + ὄψις (ópsis), vision. Pronounced “mon-uh-kop-sis.”

Lilo

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

Pithered

stacks of papers and folders piled high on a table

Vellichor

shelves with many books stacked and organized

Amoransia

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

Austice

a leaf imprint in the mud

Amentalio

a person in a white dress, facing away