Meanings
- neologismrareuncountableThe persistent sense that one is out of place or otherwise does not belong.
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.
2019, Jonna Wahl, Bloody Bloom, unnumbered page2 more examples
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.
2020, Sharon Ee Ling Quah, Transnational Divorce: Understanding Intimacies and Inequalities from Singapore, unnumbered pageThis 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.
2022, William Nippard, I Hate My Job: The Cure For The 9- 5 Syndrome, page 283
Origin
- Ancient Greekμοναχός“single, solitary”
- Englishmonachopsis
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”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
monachopsis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monachopsis
“monachopsis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monachopsis. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “monachopsis,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monachopsis.
Source: monachopsis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.