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.”

Hemeisis

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

La Cuna

Cover image for the La Cuna word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Énouement

a hand opening a curtain

Typifice

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

Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Dead Reckoning

Cover image for the Dead Reckoning word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows