Nyctous

a person walking in the middle of a street

Nyctous

adj.
feeling quietly overjoyed to be the only one awake in the middle of the night—sitting alone with a laptop and a cup of tea or strolling down the center line of an abandoned street—taking in the world like an empty theater between productions, stripped down to a simple black box, open to be whatever you want it to be.

From Nyctocereus, a genus of cactus that blooms only at night. Pronounced “nik-tuhs.”

Exulansis

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

Amuse-Douche

Cover image for the Amuse-Douche word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Holiette

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

Hailbound

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

Soufrise

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

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window