Tarrion

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

Tarrion

n.
an odd interval of blankness you feel after something big happens to you but before you feel the resulting emotional reaction—stunned by a sudden loss, a stroke of luck, or an unexpected visitor—like those tension-filled seconds between a flash of lightning and the thunderclap that follows, which gives you a hint of how near you are to the coming storm.

From tarry, to be late to react, or linger in expectation + carry on. Pronounced “tar-ee-uhn.”

Ellipsism

a hand clawing at a wall

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Slipfast

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

Catoptric Tristesse

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

Solla, Solla, Solla

a hand reaching out for plant tendril

Appriesse

a blurry image of a person looking at mounted images