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.”

Ellipsism

a hand clawing at a wall

Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed

Rialtoscuro

a blurry image of a light source

Rookish

a stone tower with a person seated on top

Anchorage

a person's arm extended over river rapids

Scrough

a person working on the sidewalk

The Standard Blues

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

Mogging Folly

a person sitting on a bench

Halfwise

a train coming towards the camera shot from the tracks

Rückkehrunruhe

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

Jouska

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

Nodrophobia

close-up of a stained shirt

Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil