rubatosis

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UK/ˌɹuːbɑˈtəʊ.sɪs/US/ˌɹubɑˈtoʊ.sɪs/

noun

The unsettling awareness of one's own heartbeat

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Meanings

nounrubatosis (uncountable)
  1. neologismuncountableThe unsettling awareness of one's own heartbeat

    Avis stopped in his tracks and wheeled around, thinking something had gone wrong—a moment of rubatosis.

    2016, Asif Anwar, Fainting Pulse: ICU Chronicles, →ISBN, page 113
    2 more examples

    Amador rocked me slowly in that amniotic tranquility and I started to get sleepy. I could hear the unsettling rubatosis of my beating heart.

    2015 September, Gustaf Vonsheilds, Palm Spring Whispers, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 105

    My skin brushed up against his soft hand, sending lightning throughout my body and a strong feeling of rubatosis.

    2019, Jonna Wahl, Bloody Bloom, →ISBN

Origin

Presumably rubato + -osis. Coined by American author and neologist John Koenig in 2012 as part of his Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows project.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with rubatosis

diagnosistuberculosisosteoporosishypnosissclerosisapoptosisprognosisthrombosisstenosispsychosisosmosismitosisacidosissymbiosismeiosisneurosisphagocytosisendocytosisgnosisamyloidosismononucleosishemochromatosissilicosisexocytosis
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

rubatosis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rubatosis

MLA

“rubatosis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rubatosis. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rubatosis,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rubatosis.

Source: rubatosis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.