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.”

Fygophobia

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

Pâro

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

Holiette

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

Wytai

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

Kenaway

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

Anechosis

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

The Unsharp Mask

a mirror with a reflection of a person

Lockheartedness

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

Latigo

aerial view of a city at night

Scrough

a person working on the sidewalk

Kinchy

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

Mal De Coucou

a blurry image of several men

Star-Stuck

a man walking towards a door with a large question mark

Gaudia Civis

a close-up of a gear

Catoptric Tristesse

Cover image for the Catoptric Tristesse word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Aftergloom

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

Tillid

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

Xeno

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

The Til

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

Karanoia

a neat stack of white paper

Anechosis

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

Nullness

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

Epistrix

several doors standing in a dark room

Moledro

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

Wollah

a person with shapes raining on them

Pithered

stacks of papers and folders piled high on a table

Endzoned

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