42 Compelling Words For All The Feelings You Didn’t Think You Could Explain

Mamihlapinatapai

n. a look shared by two people, each wishing that the other would initiate something they both desire but which neither wants to begin

Cingulomania

n. a strong desire to hold a person in your arms

Phosphenes

n. the stars and colors you see when you rub your eyes

Retrouvaille

n. the joy of meeting or finding someone again after a long separation; rediscovery

Paraphernalia

n. a broken-heart disease that occurs whenever someone leaves you, but leaves all their things behind

Lisztomania

n. a need to listen to music all the time

Legolepsy

n. a fascination or obsession with words

Talon

n. beauty that is more than skin-deep

Saudade

n. a nostalgic longing for something or someone that was loved and then lost, with the knowledge that it or they might never return; “the love that remains”

Erlebnisse

n. the experiences, positive or negative, that we feel most deeply, and through which we truly live

Athazagoraphobia

n. the fear of forgetting, being forgotten or ignored, or being replaced

Dèrive

n. lit. “drift”; a spontaneous journey where the traveller leaves their life behind for a time to let the spirit of the landscape and architecture attract and move them

Voorpret

n. pre-fun, the sense of enjoyment felt before a party or event takes place

Dysania

n. the state of finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning

Quaintrelle

n. a woman who emphasizes a life of passion, expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes, charms, and cultivation of life’s pleasures

Sirimiri

n. a light rain, a fine drizzle

Tazenda

n. things better left unsaid; matters to be passed on in silence

Lypophrenia

n. a vague feeling of sadness seemingly without any cause

Eleutheronmania

n. an intense and irresistible desire for freedom

Werifesteria

v. to wander longingly though the forest in search of mystery

Bezeling

adj. cozy, nice, inviting, pleasant, comfortable; connoting time spent with loved ones or togetherness after a long separation

Pluviophile

n. a lover of rain; someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days.

Cicatrize

v. to find healing by process of forming scars

Dèpaysement

n. when someone is taken out of their own familiar world into a new one

Fanaa

n. destruction of the self; “destroyed in love”

Hiraeth

n. a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past

Ambivalence

n. the state of having simultaneous, sometimes conflicting feelings towards something – like feeling happy and sad at the same time

Eternitarian

n. one who believes in the eternity of the soul

Numinous

adj. describing an experience that makes you fearful yet fascinated, awed yet attracted—the powerful, personal feeling of being overwhelmed and inspired

Nefelibata

n. lit. “cloud walker”; one who lives in the clouds of their own imagination or dreams, or one who does not obey the conventions of society, literature or art

Acatalepsy

n. the impossibility of comprehending the universe; the belief that human knowledge can never have true certainty

Anacampserote

n. something that can bring back a lost love

Abience

n. the strong urge to avoid someone or something

Sphallolalia

n. flirtatious talk that leads nowhere

Fernweh

n. an ache for distant places; the craving for travel

Myötähäpeä

n. the feeling of shame you experience on behalf of another person or a character when they do something stupid of embarrassing

Eunoia

n. beautiful thinking; a well mind

Elysian

adj. beautiful or creative; divinely inspired; peaceful and perfect

Anagapesis

n. no longer feeling affection for someone you once loved

Thantophobia

n. the phobia of losing someone you love

Querencia

n. a place from which one’s strength is drawn, where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self.

Alexithymia

n. an inability to describe emotions in a verbal manner