Nemotia

a city with clouds of smoke

Nemotia

n.
the fear that you’re utterly powerless to change the world around you, looking on helplessly at so many intractable problems out there—slums that sprawl from horizon to horizon, daily headlines of an unstoppable civil war, a slick of air pollution blanketing the skyline—which makes the act of trying to live your own life feel grotesque and self-indulgent, as if you’re rubbernecking through the world.

Slovenian nemočen, powerless. Pronounced “nih-moh-shah.”

Adomania

a person riding a horse

Aponemia

a group of people standing together

Kadot

a person looking at an abstract spiral

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Furosha

a storm raging in the sky over a building

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Starlorn

snow flakes in the dark

Tornomov

a cloudy sky and landscape

Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Karanoia

a neat stack of white paper

Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Ironsick

a group of random devices

Achenia

a close-up of a bottle with an organic object inside

Keyframe

a large rock in the water with emanating ripples

Eigenschauung

Eigen-schauung

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

Soufrise

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

The Til

Cover image for the The Til word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Kadot

a person looking at an abstract spiral

Aftergloom

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

Aimonomia

close-up of a plant with lights glowing in background

Symptomania

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

Punt Kick

Cover image for the Punt Kick word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows