Wollah

a person with shapes raining on them

Wollah

n.
something you’ve misunderstood for years without knowing it—a familiar word with a weird pronunciation, a favorite saying that means the opposite of what you thought, a well-known factoid that was disproven years ago while you weren’t looking—making you want to stress-test the foundations of your understanding of reality.

A mispronunciation of the French voilà, “behold!” Pronounced “wawl-uh.”

Winnewaw

a person wearing a party hat

Wollah

a person with shapes raining on them

Nilous

a person standing at a bus terminal

Ironsick

a group of random devices

Craxis

a tall house of cards

Kadot

a person looking at an abstract spiral

Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed

Offtides

close-up of a chromed metal object

Caucic

a close-up of a stone walking path

Furosha

a storm raging in the sky over a building

Rialtoscuro

a blurry image of a light source

Dystoria

close up of water drops on a window

Arroia

people standing on a stage

Evertheless

a person floating in water

Aimonomia

close-up of a plant with lights glowing in background

Beloiter

a person sitting at a slot machine

Hem-Jawed

an abstract image of someone touching their face

Suerza

a tunnel with a light emanating from the end

Insoucism

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

Dead Reckoning

Cover image for the Dead Reckoning word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Amoransia

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

Midsummer

a person standing in a garden holding a clock

Keyframe

a large rock in the water with emanating ripples

Lookaback

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

Monachopsis

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

Moledro

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

Pithered

stacks of papers and folders piled high on a table