* Very tentative name that I'm not proud of. Pronounced /ˈvaɪb.ʃəˌnɛ.riː/.
The Vibetionary is a personal project similar to The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows; it aims to give names to recurring thoughts and emotions in my life that I feel would be beneficial and forthright to give names to.
This project is the direct result of several changes of mind, philosophical thoughts, and newfound values I've recently had, particularly with regards to the meaning of honesty and how language can hamper it.
This page will be updated spontaneously as I find new words to fit the list.
Note that all IPA transcriptions follow Wikipedia's English IPA conventions.
Last updated: 2026-05-30.
bombepolie /ˈboʊm.pʊˌliː/ Adjective, of a person: Actionable, but only once a process has begun; talkative, but only once asked a question; like a landmine that sits alone, only exploding with the slightest touch. From the French words for “polite bomb.”
deresight /ˈdɛr.saɪt/ Noun: The unfortunate awareness that there are parts of your mind that are primitive and do not listen to reason, which means that full self-control requires wrangling them like bulls; the fear of metacognition. From the combination of old English der (wild animal) and sight.
discribophobia /dɪˌskrɪ.bəˈfoʊ.bi.ə/ Noun: The hesitance to utter something that is cliché or stereotypical in nature; the fear of cliché in general. From Latin discribo (to assign or divide), which in turn comes from dis- (asunder) and scribo (to write).
dothered /ˈdɑː.ðərd/ Adjective (past participle), of a person: Unable to decide between hedonism or duty--whether to enjoy one's life or oblige it to the world's benefit. From the combination of English doth (an antiquated form of “do”) and bothered.
goyetsem /ˈɡɔɪ.jɛ.tsɛm/ Noun, of a person: The person you imagine you would be if you were native to a certain different place or a member of a certain different culture; a projection of the self onto an alternative place or culture. From the Hebrew words goy (non-Jewish person, group, or nation) and etsem (essence or self, the reflexive affix in isolated form).
mavelma /məˈvɛl.mə/ Noun: A word that does not exist because no existing word has the same meaning and the same connotation, like an impossible blue apple that does not exist but would otherwise have the same nutritional composition as any ordinary apple; e.g. a synonym for “knife” that sounds tranquil, a synonym for “lavender” that sounds dirty and grungy, etc. From a contraction of the Turkish phrase mavi elma (blue apple).
orange wall /ˈɔːr.ɪndʒ ˈwɑːl/ Noun, allusion: A very small appreciable aspect that is not usually appreciated. In reference to an essay, where I describe a time where I took peculiar interest in a college residence hall's orange walls.
pulyavpleche /ˈpʊl.jəvˌplɛ.tʃɛ/ Noun: A peculiar pain or sensation that is typically of low intensity, but makes you worry paranoically that it could actually be indicative of a far worse problem, like a bullet in your shoulder that you brushed off long ago but is slowly infecting your body. From Russian for “bullet in the shoulder.”
quother /ˈkwʌ.ðər/ Noun: One's sense that the potential expression in a piece of art is restricted due to its conformity to a convention. In reference to a poem, where it was devised arbitrarily to rhyme with smother and another.
raupoena /raʊˈpiː.nə/ Noun: A gross, learned insensitivity, as if you had dealt with some feeling for so long that otherwise-threatening doses of it don't phase you. From the combination of the Latin raubo (plunder) and poena (pain).
sesquiverse /ˈsɛs.kwiˌvɜːrs/ Noun: The universe that is identical to ours but with a certain very small alteration: you took the life-changing opportunity, he didn't miss the bus that one time, etc. From universe but with uni- (one) replaced with sesqui- (one and a half).
sunbeam /ˈsʌn.biːm/ Noun, idiomatic: Something which your instinct (the Jungian Self) finds beauty in, whereas the rational part of your mind (the Jungian Ego) sees its malign or unfortunate aspects. A sunbeam visible in mid-air looks exceptionally pretty, but impurities and particulates (that you might be inhaling) must be present in the air in order for it to be visible.
weggeworfen /ˈvɛɡ.ɡəˌvɔːr.fən/ Noun: A topic or point you held in your mind that you felt the need to mention later in a conversation, but discarded as the others in the conversation kept talking before you had the chance to, dragging the conversation somewhere else to the point it would be awkward to mention it. From the German word for “thrown out.”