Meanings
- neologismuncountableThe pensive nostalgia and temporality of used bookstores; the feeling evoked by the scent of old books or paper.
Bringing the drawing to his face, he closed his eyes, inhaling the paper's vellichor, the opium-like smell of yesteryear and childhood.
2018, Sam Millar, The Bespoke Hitman2 more examples
It seemed that nobody else was in the shop, so I wandered around, both intimidated and entranced by the sense of vellichor as I traced my fingers along the leather spines of books beyond my time.
2017, Ana Kimm, "The Bookstop", Ink Stains (Pechersk School International, Kiev, Ukraine), Summer 2017, page 86I stepped inside to see rows and rows of old books and tables to sit at. The vellichor of the place hit me in the face like a cold harsh wind.
2019, Brooke Santoyo, Hanakatoba, page 36
Origin
Coined by American author and neologist John Koenig in 2013, creator of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, as a blend of vellum (“parchment”) and ichor. Compare petrichor.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
vellichor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vellichor
“vellichor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vellichor. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vellichor,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vellichor.
Source: vellichor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.