Back to search

Fata Organafah-tuh awr-gah-nuh

n. A flash of real emotion glimpsed in someone sitting across the room--their mind wandering away from whatever's happening around them, their eyes lighting up with pensiveness or vulnerability or cosmic boredom--as if you could see backstage through a gap in the curtains, watching actors in costume mouthing their lines, fragments of bizarre sets waiting for some other production.

Etymology

From fata morgana, a kind of mirage that warps the appearance of distant objects so that sailboats look like fairy castles + organa, methods by which a philosophical investigation may be conducted.

Share this word

Related Words

Suggest a Word

Know a word that captures a complex emotion? Share it with us!

Made by @djrhails. Learn more about the project.