Words for Emotions You Didn’t Even Know You Had

The scientists behind the latest brain-imaging studies say they can now pinpoint with precision where these feelings are located within our heads. Tiffany Watt Smith's new book, The Book of Human Emotions goes one step further. It is a roundup of 154 words  for some very specific emotions you likely never knew you had:

Amae: This Japanese word means “leaning on another person’s goodwill," a feeling of deep trust that allows a relationship — with your partner, with your parent, even with yourself — to flourish. 

Awumbuk: The Baining people of Papua New Guinea use this word for the feeling of “emptiness after visitors depart." They rid themselves of this melancholy feeling after guests have left by filling a bowl with water and leaving it to absorb the festering air. The next day, the family rises very early and ceremonially flings the water into the trees, whereupon ordinary life resumes.
Pronoia: The opposite of paranoia. Instead of the fear that you are at the center of some diabolical lot, pronoia is the “strange, creeping feeling that everyone’s out to help you.”

Torschlusspanik: Life is passing you by. The deadline’s approaching. Translated from German, torschlusspanik means “gate-closing panic,” a word to summarize that fretful sensation of time running out.

More words: Science of Us