Zysia

a kite soaring above an empty landscape

Zysia

n.
the sense that you were born too early in history, all too aware of how crude and backward the present can be, feeling tired of having to sit through so much clunky exposition and slow-burning suspense, when all you want to do is skip ahead to find out what happens next.

A word tantalizingly close to being the last word of the dictionary, but not quite there. Pronounced “zee-zhah.”

Yeorie

a woman with tendrils of smoke moving across her face

Aulasy

a blurry image of a house on the road

Midsummer

a person standing in a garden holding a clock

Rasque

close-up of the shards of a broken vase

Walloway

water faucet that seems to emanate from the ground

Enterhood

adults with stern expressions holding a child

Alpha Exposure

a close-up of a baby with diffusion filter

Affogatia

miscellaneous items on a table

Etterath

a graduation cap and gown on a chair

Kerisl

piles of old books scattered in an abandoned room

Backmasking

a woman's face with a double exposure

Keta

a hand reaching through paper with a flower drawing

Anchorage

a person's arm extended over river rapids

Cullaways

a lone sand castle on a beach at low tide

Ecury

a close-up of cave drawings and symbols

O’Erpine

a person looking at a grave

Tirosy

a close-up of a young child's face

Spinning Playback Head

silhouette of a person looking out a window

Chrysalism

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

Beloiter

a person sitting at a slot machine

Occhiolism

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

Fygophobia

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

Addleworth

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

Slipfast

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

Burn Upon Reentry

Cover image for the Burn Upon Reentry word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Malotype

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

Wytai

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