List of Emotions

The following is a list emotions that participants in the Stories of Emotional Granularity project can choose to be interviewed about. Participants will be asked to share a story about an actual experience they’ve had with this emotion. Follow up questions will be asked about this story, with the resulting material shared in public with participants’ actual name associated with it. This is not an anonymous study. So, before you participate make sure to choose stories of emotional experiences that you won’t mind people hearing about.

If there’s an emotion you’ve felt that you’d like to talk about, and it’s not on this list, that’s great. Your emotion can be added to this list as part of the research process. Also, if you see an emotion on the list below but disagree with the way it’s defined, that disagreement is welcome too. You’ll have the chance to talk about that during your interview, and offer your own idea of a better definition.

These emotions are listed in no particular order, so take your time browsing before you make a selection.

Utepils - The feeling of having a cold beer on the first warm day of the year

Listost - A desperate reaction against the sudden realization of one’s own miserable condition

Grief - The emotional aftermath of loss

Abbiocco - A drowsy relaxation that comes after eating a big meal

Sehnsucht - A German emotion, said to be untranslatable into any English word, yearning for something so distant that its attainment feels uncertain, or even impossible

Nihilistic - The experience of the world as lacking ground for any belief

Dazzled - Overcome by a glittering display

EcoAnxiety - The pain of being overwhelmed by the environmental destruction that surrounds us

Compassion - An impulse to reduce the suffering of others

Compassion Fatigue - Distress that results from secondary exposure to trauma

Bewilderment - A disorientation, as if having been led into a confusing wilderness

Disgruntled - A powerlessness in the face of a system that doesn’t work and doesn’t care

Commuovere - A feeling of being moved by another person’s story

Amae - The desire to be cared for like a child

Tantalized - The desire for that which will always be just out of reach

Calculating - An emotional determination to disregard the emotional perspectives of others

Schadenfreude - A pleasure taken at the misfortune of others.

Mudita - Delight kindled by the happiness of others

Boredom - A dull opening that may lead to other, deeper interests

Summit Fever - The desire for peak experience without care for the consequences

Rapture of the Deep - A euphoria triggered by the unsafe conditions of diving far below the surface

Fish Out Of Water - Feeling better suited to conditions elsewhere

Drowning - The feeling of struggle as it approaches complete failure

Buoyant - The feeling of being kept afloat when one’s density would otherwise lead to drowning

La Douleur Exquise - The sweet suffering that comes from romantic obsession that can never be fulfilled

Off Kilter - A feeling of misalignment with the world

Misery - A painful affliction by external circumstances

Blue - A feeling of cool remove

Absorbed - The sense of having been sucked into a setting, story, or experience

Jealousy - The fear of losing what we already have

Envy - The desire for that which is beyond our grasp

Drudgery - The dullness of work that leads nowhere

Presence - The feeling of being attuned to one’s current place and time

Dirty - The emotional aftermath of having touched the untouchable

Human - An earthy mood of being down low without being brought low

Grounded - The feeling of being connected to solid earth

Solastalgia - Anguish caused by ecological degradation of the area around one’s home

Flygskam - The shame caused by flying in an airplane, knowing how much carbon pollution it is emitting

Topoaversion - The regret that one must avoid visiting a beloved place because it has been destroyed

Biophilia - The impulse to feel connection with non-human forms of life

Uncanny Valley - The apprehension we feel when encountering that mimics humanity without capturing the essence of human experience

Longing - The feeling of distance, and the desire to close it

Distant - The subjective perception of emotional separation, even when there is close physical proximity

Torschlusspanik - The terrifying rush of nearing a strict deadline

Amused - To be seized by something funny

Resilience Fatigue - The exhaustion that results from expectations of ongoing fortitude in spite of overwhelming trauma

Jocular - In a mood to poke fun and speak uncomfortable emotional truths

Perky - An unusually active and aware frame of mind

Eerie - A sensation that there is something dreadful lurking just out of sight

Stymied - The emotion provoked when the way to one’s goal has been blocked

Dumbfounded - To be perplexed to the point of being unable to talk

Crestfallen - A puffed up senses of self-worth that has fallen flat

Toska - A complex collection of pained feelings that cannot be reduced to any simple label or explanation

Stubborn - Resistance to demands for change

Shock - An emotion provoked by an unexpected violent strike

Surprise - Feeling as if one has been seized by unforeseen circumstances

Suffocated - Feeling as if one has insufficient space in which to breathe

Overwhelmed - A feeling of being submerged in an experience so powerful that it cannot be resisted

Awkward - What it feels like to be pointed in a direction that breaks with the grid of normality

Trapped - The feeling of having been boxed in

Fear - The urgent sense of danger

Revolted - An emotional rejection of stimulus that defies expected boundaries

Torrid - A passionate heat without restraint

Ebullience - An energetic mood that moves like boiling water

Turbid - Feeling as if one is submerged in murky water, trying to find clarity

Turmoil - An inner conflict surging out of control

Stirred Up - Roused into action with a clear sense of purpose

Certainty - The emotional conclusion that ambiguity has been overcome

Abandon - The release of all burdens in order to become emotionally immersed in an experience

Abandoned - A feeling of being discarded by those seeking the rush of abandon elsewhere

Nomophobia - The urgent distress felt upon the idea of being apart from one’s smartphone, even for a short while

Phubbed - How it feels when someone ignores you in favor of their smartphone

Phoneliness - The pervasive feeling of being alone in a world full of people who only have eyes for their smartphones

Skin Hunger - A desperate longing for touch by those who have been deprived of it

Malneirophrenia - An oppressive bad mood that lingers after waking up from a nightmare

Uhtceare - Worry about the day to come while lying in bed before dawn

Morgenfrisk - An energetic optimism that comes after a good night’s sleep

Negative - An emotion that breaks with the status quo by saying no, enabling subsequent transformation

Tranquility - The feeing of return to the still and quiet place that is always waiting for us

Serenity - The feeling of peaceful appreciation of a place free of storms

Glad - A positive, but subdued, emotional reaction

Viraag - The pain of separation from a loved one

Fastidious — An excessive attachment to exacting standards

Greed - Pleasure obtained by obtaining

Lazy - Feeling that it’s time to put work aside

Relief - What it’s like when the burden of suffering is lifted away

Wintering - An acceptance of the dark and cold periods of life as opportunities for seasoning

Wintercearig - A feeling reminiscent of the cold harshness of winter that comes even when it is not winter

Shěnměi píláo - When interest fades after gazing at beauty for too long

FOMO - The concern that someone, somewhere is having a better time

JOMO - The welcome feeling of missing out on events elsewhere

Engentado - Feeling crowded and desperate to find a place to be alone

Abschiedsschmerz - The pain of an unwanted departure

Trepidation - The emotion of an uncertain beginning

Nonplussed - The feeling of being brought to a standstill by a mental tangle

Second Wind - An additional burst of energy following a bout of exhausting activity

A Sinking Feeling - To begin to come to grips with doom before it arrives

Morkkis - A vague sense of having done something unacceptable while drinking the night before

Kalsarikänni - The restorative feeling that comes from sitting alone at home in one’s underwear while having an alcoholic drink

Ruinenlust - The pleasure taken from wandering amidst constructions that have fallen apart

Lost - The feeling of having lost one’s place on life’s map

Frayed - The feeling of coming apart around the edges

Rattled - The feeling of having been grabbed and shaken

Iktsuarpok - The eagerness that compels people to check over and over if someone is about to arrive

Up - An emotional elevation

Perky - An unusually active and aware frame of mind

Krasosmutnění - A joyful sorrow

Tarab - The heart’s purposeful transformation in song

Trippy - The experience of an altered state of consciousness

Xibipiio - The sensation of flickering in and out of experience

Wretched - What it feels like to be cast into exile

Hiraeth - The yearning for a homelike place we can never reach again, and which may never have been as we like to remember it

Sǐ bù míng mù - The feeling of approaching death without resolution of the injustices of life

Disappointment - The mood that comes upon being reminded that our dates with destiny can be called off at any time

Suspicion - The compulsion to examine something from different angles in order to discover an untruth

Weary - The emotion being slowly sapped of energy during a long hard slog

Frühjahrsmüdigkeit - A dark mood that strikes in early springtime

Righteous - Emotional commitment to a single ethical perspective

Naughty - A liberation from rigidity in an embrace of fluid fun

Basorexia - The urge to kiss

Tender - A mixture of pain and comfort within a relationship

Wistful - A languid mist of desire

Expansive - An open mood inspired by open places

Bedgasm - The ecstasy experienced upon falling into bed at the end of a long day

Angh - A community of emotions, including anger, anxiety, and anguish, that share a sense of constriction

Mono No Aware - Heartfelt appreciation of transience

Talked Out - An aversion to continued conversation

Lalochezia - The pleasure derived from using foul language

Uptight - A reaction against wide open possibilities

Irritation - Being disturbed by a provocative presence that hovers around the threshold of awareness

Wrath - A hunger to exact retribution

Woda - A fury of inspired madness

Betrayal - The feeling that trust has been broken

Guilt - The feeling of having a done a bad thing

Shame - The feeling of being a bad person

Regret - The longing for a choice that was not made

Mamihlapinatapai - A feeling shared by two people who both wish the other to do something, while waiting for the other to begin

Wanderlust - The desire to keep moving without any final destination

Adrift - The feeling of moving through life without any control of sense of purpose, as if one is in a boat beyond sight of land, without any means of navigation or propulsion

Doom - The feeling that things are sure to go badly

Spooked - The sudden realization that things are not as we believed them to be

Ambition - The desire to achieve beyond what’s necessary

Sisu - The will to face down overwhelming odds

Circumspect - The sense that something unknown could arrive from any direction

Morose - A feeling that focuses on the unpleasant aspects of life

Morbid - Emotional absorption on decay and death

Thanatophobia - An active fear of death

Suicidal - A sincere desire for death

L’ Esprit de L’Escalier - The realization of what to say only after a conversation is over

Embarrassment - A reaction to being seen in a way that we aren’t ready to deal with

Fremdscham - The vicarious feeling of being embarrassed for someone else

Hypochondria - The feeling of having a serious medical condition that does not exist

Mágoa - A form of sorrow that pervades the body, leaving lasting manifestations in gesture and expression

Butterflies In The Stomach - A mixed feeling of eagerness and aversion before an important performance

Panic - What it feels like when the calm veneer of civilization is ripped away

Confidence - The bold presentation of self-awareness and competence

Respect - To hold something in high esteem, after a second look

L’Appel du Vide - An unaccountable urge to leap from a high place to one’s certain death

Freefall - The metaphorical feeling of being in an unhindered plummet

Peiskos - The comforting feeling that comes from sitting in front of a fire

Emasculated - The feeling of having had one’s masculinity taken away

Estranged - An experience of unbelonging from that which once felt familiar

Dudgeon - A surge of irrepressible offense taken in response to a perceived slight

Choleric - A fiery combination of ambition, anger, courage and cruelty

Hate - A rejection of the validity of other people’s perspectives

Heartbreak - The feeling after love has been proven false

Despair - Suffering without hope of remediating purpose

Conviviality - The feeling of being in good, lively company

Tizzy - A condition of confused excitement

Unready - A sense of being unprepared to meet the future

Bashful - A conflicted reluctance to engage in a social encounter

Empty - To be drained of desires and attachments

Ambivalent - Having two opposing feelings at the same time

Purity - A feeling of being untouched by the filth of life

Distracted - To feel pulled away from an intended path

Out of Sorts - The uneasy feeling that things are escaping their assigned categories

Discombobulated - How it feels when the structure of life gets bent out of shape

Mourning - The process of coming to terms with loss

Disillusionment - The discovery that our models of reality have been wrong

Messed Up - Feeling jumbled up inside

Dreary - To feel one’s emotions drained of passion like a body drained of blood

Novaturience - The desire for new experiences

Temptation - The disquieting feeling that there can be more than just one right thing to do

Haunted - The feeling of being followed something that refuses to let go

Bloodthirsty - An urge to commit violence for its own sake

Duende - An excitement containing both shadows and flames that arises in response to art

Desperation - An urgency on the edge of disaster that leads to impulsive choices

Jarred - To feel as if one has heard a harsh and sudden noise

Soothed - How we feel when we are shown a new, comforting truth

Friday feeling - An elated sense of release at the end of a time of obligation

Sunday Scaries - The growing distress that comes in the dwindling hours of the weekend

Chrysalism - The feeling evoked by watching a thunderstorm while safe and dry inside

Cave Syndrome - An aversion to being out in the open after staying safely sheltered away

Werifesteria - The mood that comes while wandering in the woods in search of mystery

Headlong - A heedless drive to plunge into direct experience

Spontaneity - A willingness to act without planning

Acedia - An aversion to religious worship

Sentimental - A fluffy form of processed emotion that has been stripped of its nutritious fiber

Sour Grapes - The painful conclusion that the unattainable is undesirable

Nadryv - An outburst of emotion that seems out of place because of its lengthy suppression

Hwyl - Feeling as if one is on a sailboat being pushed forward on a brisk wind, even if one is actually on dry land

Ilinx - The feeling of playfully entering an experience that temporarily obliterates the self as if in a great whirl of disorientation

Unsettled - The emotional realization that the comfortable furniture of our social situation can be rearranged

Malu - The sudden sense of inadequacy felt upon entering the presence of people with high social status

Starstruck - An overwhelming excitement felt in the presence of someone famous

Magic  - The feeling that conscious desire has bent the stiff structures of physical reality

Evening - To temporarily come back into balance after a long day

Autumnal - A mood of lingering warmth on the fringes of decay

Devotion - A choice to alter one’s nature to form a meaningful commitment

Gigil - A nearly irresistible urge to reach out to another person, regardless of what they want

Bitterness - A complex blend of displeasure and satisfaction that cuts through the cloying positives of life

Surly - An arrogant truculence arising out of an inflated sense of injury

Contempt - A roiling combination of hatred, disdain, anger, dismissal, and disgust

Hangry - An aggressive emotion that arises from the denial of one’s appetite

Abhimaan - A brooding between loved ones that holds hurt feelings in its silence

Washed Up - The awareness of having become human flotsam

Wigged Out - Temporarily unable to cope with reality

Indifference - A conspicuous lack of care

Anhedonia - An isolating absence of pleasure from experiences that used to feel good 

Impostor Syndrome - Feeling unqualified despite one’s qualifications

Retrouvailles - The feeling of reconnecting with a person who had been close but then became a stranger

Caprice - The sudden urge to depart from what’s expected

Mischievous - A feeling that delights in the disruption of authority

Zany - An impulsive desire to defy conventional forms that reveals the absurdity underlying normality

Senioritis - The detached feeling that comes toward the end of high school

Daydreaming - The active and immersive construction of pleasant fantasies

Woolgathering - An unfocused frame of mind that wanders without purpose from thought to thought

Brabant - The pleasure taken in provoking other people into demonstrations of outrage

Interviews for the following emotions have already been completed:

Yugen - The feeling, indescribable in words, of a profound awareness of the cosmos

Friluftsliv - The feeling of rightness that comes from spending time outdoors in nature

Unmasked - What it’s like when a performance slips to reveal the identity underneath it

Love - An intense affectionate attachment to another person, or the way you feel about your favorite pizza

Curiosity - A playful appetite for discovery

Dadirri - The experience of deep listening

Arrived - How it feels to have closed the gap between who we ought to be and who we are

Arbejdsglaede - The joy that comes from work

Pride - The feeling of being worthy of special respect, whether or not that respect has been earned

Flux - An ambiguous condition in between solid states of being

Trust - An enduring feeling of a steadfast relationship

Climate Grief - The mourning of Earth’s natural ecology, as if it has already died

Surrender - The acknowledgement of loss

Sad - A feeling of sorrow, or of pathetic failure, or of desperate emptiness, or of horrible wrongness

Compersion - The satisfaction felt upon learning of a romantic partner’s other romantic relationships

Happy - How it feels when happenstance happens to bring favor instead of misfortune

Anxiety - The feeling of a growing threat that may not have yet reached the threshold of immediate danger