Knellish

a blurry image of a person lying on a bed

Knellish

adj.
afraid to relax your body and drift off to sleep because you can’t help but notice how much it rhymes with death—lying flat on your back, your hands clumped on your chest, trying to force yourself to let go of consciousness, knowing you’ll almost certainly find your grip again but unsure exactly how that happens.

Armenian քնել (k’nel), sleep + knell, a ringing announcement of a death. Pronounced “nel-ish.”

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

Caucic

a close-up of a stone walking path

Altschmerz

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

Incidental Contact High

Cover image for the Incidental Contact High word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Pax Latrina

Cover image for the Pax Latrina word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

The Kick Drop

Cover image for the The Kick Drop word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

The Mcfly Effect

Cover image for the The Mcfly Effect word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Vellichor

shelves with many books stacked and organized

Austice

a leaf imprint in the mud

Anthrodynia

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