Rasque

close-up of the shards of a broken vase

Rasque

n.
a moment you instantly wish you could take back, feeling a pulse of dread right after crossing the point of no return—a blurted confession, a hurled insult, a final decision you’d been waffling over for months— wanting to take just one step backward in time, reverting to the way things used to be, in the halcyon days of just a minute ago.

From rue, to regret + bourrasque, a tempest. Pronounced “rask.”

Mithenness

a person standing on the side of a road

Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter

Echthesia

blurry image of two clocks

Nowlings

a pile of black and white puzzle pieces

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child

Anticious

a group of men in hats looking at elevated signage

Affogatia

miscellaneous items on a table

Kerisl

piles of old books scattered in an abandoned room

Appriesse

a blurry image of a person looking at mounted images

Midsummer

a person standing in a garden holding a clock

Etterath

a graduation cap and gown on a chair

Hobsmacked

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

Starlorn

snow flakes in the dark

Nighthawk

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

Lockheartedness

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

Mal De Coucou

a blurry image of several men

Flashover

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

Halfwise

a train coming towards the camera shot from the tracks

Mottleheaded

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

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion