Volander

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

Volander

n.
the ethereal feeling of looking down at the world through an airplane window, able to catch a glimpse of far-flung places you’d never see in person, free to let your mind wander, trying to imagine what they must feel like down on the ground—the closest you’ll ever get to an objective point of view.

Latin volare, to fly + solander, a book-shaped box for storing maps. Pronounced “voh-land-uhr.”

Hanker Sore

Cover image for the Hanker Sore word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Echthesia

blurry image of two clocks

Offtides

close-up of a chromed metal object

Leidenfreude

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

Walloway

water faucet that seems to emanate from the ground

Rookish

a stone tower with a person seated on top