THESE WONDERFUL WORDS come from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, “a compendium of invented words” by graphic designer and editor John Koenig. He’s come up with dozens of terms that pinpoint the emotions we all feel but don’t know how to communicate. And my heart is seriously bursting with the whimsy of it all.

1. Sonder


2. Opia


3. Monachopsis

The subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place.

4. Énouement


5. Vellichor

The strange wistfulness of used bookshops.

6. Rubatosis

The unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat.

7. Kenopsia


8. Mauerbauertraurigkeit


9. Jouska

A hypothetical conversation that you compulsively play out in your head.

10. Chrysalism

The amniotic tranquility of being indoors during a thunderstorm.

11. Vemödalen


12. Anecdoche

A conversation in which everyone is talking, but nobody is listening.

13. Ellipsism


14. Kuebiko

A state of exhaustion inspired by acts of senseless violence.

15. Lachesism


16. Exulansis


17. Adronitis

Frustration with how long it takes to get to know someone.

18. Rückkehrunruhe


19. Nodus Tollens


20. Onism


21. Liberosis

The desire to care less about things.

22. Altschmerz


23. Occhiolism

The awareness of the smallness of your perspective.