Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Winnewaw

n.
an unexpected burst of good news that only makes you skeptical, believing that every sudden rise in your fortunes must inevitably be accompanied by an impending fall, which leaves you feeling uneasy at the end of a really good day, waiting around for the punch line.

Middle English winne, joy + wawe, woe. Compare williwaw, a sudden blast of wind descending from the mountains to the sea. Pronounced “win-uh-waw.”

Adomania

a person riding a horse

Aponemia

a group of people standing together

Kadot

a person looking at an abstract spiral

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Furosha

a storm raging in the sky over a building

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Starlorn

snow flakes in the dark

Tornomov

a cloudy sky and landscape

Ecsis

a hand holding a fossil

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Karanoia

a neat stack of white paper

Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Irrition

a close up of a dandelion

Ironsick

a group of random devices

Achenia

a close-up of a bottle with an organic object inside

Vaucasy

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

Backmasking

a woman's face with a double exposure

Vulture Shock

Cover image for the Vulture Shock word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Gaudia Civis

a close-up of a gear

Mauerbauertraurigkeit

Mauerbauer-traurigkeit

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

Inerrata

a hand holding a broken cup

Zverism

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

Aimonomia

close-up of a plant with lights glowing in background

Anthrodynia

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