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.”

Zysia

a kite soaring above an empty landscape

Ellipsism

a hand clawing at a wall

Zverism

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

Monachopsis

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

Keep

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

Dead Reckoning

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

Mornden

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

Thwit

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

Ledsome

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

Merrenness

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

Nighthawk

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

Present-Tense

a close-up of a stopwatch