Volander

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

Volander

n.
the ethereal feeling of looking down at the world through an airplane window, able to catch a glimpse of far-flung places you’d never see in person, free to let your mind wander, trying to imagine what they must feel like down on the ground—the closest you’ll ever get to an objective point of view.

Latin volare, to fly + solander, a book-shaped box for storing maps. Pronounced “voh-land-uhr.”

Énouement

a hand opening a curtain

Aftersome

rows of opaque and clear marbles

Kerisl

piles of old books scattered in an abandoned room

Archimony

a person looking at broken furniture

Watashiato

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

Eftless

a person with hands pressed on a window