monachopsis

English

Etymology

Coined by American author and neologist John Koenig, creator of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, from Ancient Greek μοναχός (monakhós, “single, solitary”) + ὄψις (ópsis, “view, sight”).

Noun

monachopsis (uncountable)

1. (neologism, rare) The persistent sense that one is out-of-place or otherwise does not belong.
   • 2019, Jonna Wahl, Bloody Bloom, unnumbered page:

     My cliche teenage romance that every girl secretly craves deep down. […] He resolved my monachopsis with a warm vibe that I craved to be near.

   • 2020, Sharon Ee Ling Quah, Transnational Divorce: Understanding Intimacies and Inequalities from Singapore, unnumbered page:

     Not being able to settle down and living on the edge send these women into monachopsis where the persistent feeling of being unbelonged and out-of-place looms over them constantly.

   • 2022, William Nippard, I Hate My Job: The Cure For The 9- 5 Syndrome, page 283:

     This frightful and empty sensation of feeling maladapted to your surroundings is known as monachopsis. For most people, including me on day one at my new schools, monachopsis is temporary and diminishes when the unfamiliar becomes familiar and new routines and unknown faces become norms.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:monachopsis.