In the vast spectrum of human emotion, there are subtle feelings that often escape definition. These 23 terms – some real, some coined by John Koenig in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows – help us name what would otherwise remain silent truths within our hearts. Here are the emotions, explained in depth and accompanied by real-life examples that everyone can relate to.
That moment when you notice a stranger and suddenly realize their life is just as rich and intricate as your own.
Example: You’re sitting on a bus, watching a woman reading a book, and suddenly think: “She has dreams, fears, memories… just like me.”
When you become hyper-aware of your pulse, and it feels inescapable.
Example: You’re lying in bed, but your heart is beating so loudly that you can’t fall asleep.
Explanation: That strange, hollow atmosphere in a school hallway after hours or an abandoned shopping mall.
Example: You return to a once lively café, now closed and silent. A soft sadness settles in.
Explanation: You finally understand something, but there’s no way to go back and reassure your former self.
Example: You’ve graduated after years of struggle, and you think: “If only I could tell my past self it would all be okay.”
Explanation: You don’t feel like you belong, even if nothing seems wrong.
Example: You’re at a party with friends, but deep down, you feel like an outsider.
Explanation: A mix of vulnerability and intimacy that comes with sustained eye contact.
Example: You lock eyes with someone for too long and feel exposed, like they can read your soul.
Explanation: The sense that your work is just one more version of something already done.
Example: You take a beautiful photo of a sunset, but Instagram shows you a thousand more just like it.
Explanation: A yearning to be less weighed down by obligations and expectations.
Example: You see carefree children playing and wish you could feel that free again.
Explanation: That safe, warm feeling while rain taps against the windows.
Example: You’re wrapped in a blanket, sipping tea, with soft thunder in the distance – utterly content.
Explanation: Being tired of your own recurring heartaches and doubts.
Example: Thinking about an old breakup again and feeling the same ache as if it just happened.
Explanation: A yearning for deeper connection without the wait.
Example: You meet someone fascinating and want to skip the small talk straight to the heart.
Explanation: Realizing how narrow your view of the world is.
Example: Reading a complex scientific theory and suddenly feeling tiny in the universe.
Explanation: The aching sense that no matter how much you do, you’ll never see or know it all.
Example: Staring at a world map and realizing how many lives and stories you’ll never encounter.
Explanation: Wanting to be alone, even from those you love, without knowing why.
Example: You care about your friends, but suddenly feel overwhelmed and retreat from them.
Explanation: Longing for an era you never experienced but feel emotionally connected to.
Example: You listen to jazz from the 1940s and feel homesick for a past that’s not yours.
Explanation: Questioning your current path and whether it truly aligns with who you are.
Example: You have a stable job, but feel like you’re drifting through someone else’s dream.
Explanation: Rehearsing scenarios or arguments that never actually happen.
Example: You imagine telling your ex everything you never got to say – over and over.
Explanation: Letting go of trying to express a deeply meaningful experience that others dismiss.
Example: You try to share a transformative travel story but stop mid-way because no one seems interested.
Explanation: A haunting, nostalgic feeling evoked by old pages, forgotten titles, and untold stories.
Example: You browse through dusty books and feel surrounded by a thousand lives you’ll never read.
Explanation: A growing awareness that days and years are slipping by quicker with age.
Example: It feels like January was yesterday, and suddenly it’s December again.
Explanation: A feeling or person that remains embedded in your heart, haunting your present.
Example: You hear a song you used to share with someone, and your chest tightens with old emotion.
Explanation: A photo that unearths feelings and memories you didn’t realize were still alive.
Example: You see a childhood picture and feel a mix of warmth, longing, and a loss you can’t name.
Explanation: A dream so big and difficult that it borders on obsession – and you still chase it.
Example: You want to build something meaningful – write a novel, start a movement – even if it breaks you.
These words give voice to inner worlds that often go unnamed. And once we can name them – we begin to understand, embrace, and share them. There may not be a cure for everything we feel, but there is a word. And that’s a powerful beginning.
