Vellichor

shelves with many books stacked and organized

Vellichor

n.
the strange wistfulness of used bookstores, which are somehow infused with the passage of time—filled with thousands of old books you’ll never have time to read, each of which is itself locked in its own era, bound and dated and papered over like an old room the author abandoned years ago, a hidden annex littered with thoughts left just as they were on the day they were captured.

From vellum, parchment + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Ancient Greek mythology. Pronounced “vel-uh-kawr.”

Fool’s Guilt

Cover image for the Fool’s Guilt word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Endzoned

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

Archimony

a person looking at broken furniture

Future-Tense

a person looking at their reflection

Walloway

water faucet that seems to emanate from the ground

Hiddled

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