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.”

Rookish

a stone tower with a person seated on top

Wollah

a person with shapes raining on them

Solysium

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

Altschmerz

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

Addleworth

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

Thwit

close-up of a person with forehead wrinkled and holding their head