Povism

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

Povism

n.
the frustration of being stuck inside your own head, unable to see your face or read your body language in context, only ever guessing how you might be coming across—which makes you think of yourself as a detached observer squinting out at a lushly painted landscape, though to everyone else you seem woven right into the canvas.

From point of view + ism. Blessed are the slugs, whose eyes are held aloft on wriggling stalks, just tall enough to see their entire bodies in context. Pronounced “poh-viz-uhm.”

Kerisl

piles of old books scattered in an abandoned room

Flashover

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

Proluctance

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

Angosis

a table full of food

Ecury

a close-up of cave drawings and symbols

Aulasy

a blurry image of a house on the road