sonder

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sonder

/ˈsɑndɚ/ US
/ˈsɒndə/ UK

Rhymes with -ɒndə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Coined by American author and neologist John Koenig in 2012, whose project, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, aims to come up with new words for emotions that currently lack names. Inspired by German sonder- (“special”) and French sonder (“to probe”).

noun

neologism, uncountable The profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passing in the street, has a life as complex as one's own, which they are constantly living despite one's personal lack of awareness of it. I had a sonder, a realization that the random girl sitting next to me inside of Starbucks might have a fantastic life or she might be dealing with a very ill family member.

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MLA

"sonder." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sonder. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

sonder. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sonder

Chicago

"sonder." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sonder.

BibTeX

@misc{sonder_2026,
  title = {sonder},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sonder},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}