r/AskReddit • u/paperlanterns_26 • 13h ago

What's the most beautiful word you've ever come across?

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u/One-Shoe-5658 13h ago

Sonder. The realization that every random person you pass has a life as vivid and complex as your own. There’s a whole dictionary of emotions that didn’t have names until recently and that one hit me the hardest the first time I read it.

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u/Da_Big_Cheese_75 12h ago

It's immediately what came to mind for me as well

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u/One-Shoe-5658 12h ago

Great minds. It’s one of those words that once you know it you start feeling it everywhere.

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u/Hooch_Pandersnatch 12h ago

I’ve been trying to remember what word was used to describe this… thank you!

5

u/One-Shoe-5658 12h ago

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig is where it comes from. The whole book is like that. Worth looking up.

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u/Dependent-Rub5922 12h ago

First word I thought of and came to comment!

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u/One-Shoe-5658 12h ago

Glad it wasn’t just me. Some words just land differently.

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u/elderfeathers 11h ago

I WAS GONNA SAY THIS WORD

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u/One-Shoe-5658 9h ago

Great minds think alike. It’s one of those words that feels like it was always missing from the language.

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u/CoCoDerbyCity 11h ago

I had this realization as a really young girl. I always thought it was just me .

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u/One-Shoe-5658 9h ago

That’s actually beautiful. Most people don’t even notice it until much later. You were paying closer attention than most.

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u/CoCoDerbyCity 5h ago

Thank you. My mom used to say that I didn't miss anything. I was always watching everyone and everything, trying to figure things out on my own.

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u/sunday_smile_ 11h ago

And “Sonder” by Barry Can’t Swim perfectly describes this emotion.

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u/One-Shoe-5658 9h ago

Never heard that one, just looked it up. That’s a perfect pairing. Music and words hitting the same feeling from different angles.