Siso

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

Siso

n.
a solitary experience you wish you could have shared with someone else—having dinner in a romantic setting, reaching the summit after an arduous climb, having a run-in with a crazy stranger that nobody’s going to believe—which makes you look around for confirmation that it even happened at all.

Welsh si-so, see-saw, an invention that can only ever be enjoyed by multiple people; when used alone, it’s just a wonky bench. Pronounced “see-soh.”

Solla, Solla, Solla

a hand reaching out for plant tendril

Zielschmerz

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

Candling

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

Archimony

a person looking at broken furniture

Mornden

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

Suente

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