kenopsia

English

Etymology

Coined by American author and neologist John Koenig, creator of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, from Ancient Greek κενός (kenós, “empty”) and the modern English suffix -opsia, itself from the Ancient Greek -οψία (-opsía, “sight”).

Noun

A sense of kenopsia may have been evoked by this empty airport terminal in 2020.

kenopsia (uncountable)

1. (neologism, rare) The haunting quality of seeing a location typically full of people in a state of emptiness or abandonment.
   • 2019, Ellen Klinkel, Nick Gerlich, A Matter of Time: Route 66 through the Lens of Change, page 5:

     Many of the places we visited have the distinct feel of kenopsia, which is that eeriness of places left behind or once teeming with people but now quiet, save for the wind blowing through open windows.

   • 2022, Uboho Bassey, “Coronavirus”, in Times and Seasons: A Collection of Poems, unnumbered page:

     WHO calls it a global pandemic,
     Earth's population lost in kenopsia.

   • 2022, David Moscow, John Moscow, From Scratch: Adventures in Harvesting, Hunting, Fishing, and Foraging on a Fragile Planet, unnumbered page:

     The other difference I noticed from '42 was the sharp drop in oyster farmhands, from hundreds to only three today. Looking around, I felt a touch of kenopsia; the canal seemed much emptier.

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

See also

• liminal space