the software-update betrayal
A perfectly timed technological failure that guarantees you miss kickoff, the goal, and possibly the whole first half.
Read full entry →The public Definr lexicon
Browse invented words, original phrases, local slang and definitions for oddly specific experiences.
Browse by life domain
Food, home, shopping, travel, weather and the routines of ordinary life.
Relationships, etiquette, community, British culture and public life.
Working life, professions, school, university and study.
Devices, internet culture, entertainment and modern media.
Emotions, habits, health, wellbeing and personal routines.
Pets, wildlife, insects and encounters with the natural world.
Conversation, expressions, humour, writing and imaginative language.
Filtered dictionary
A perfectly timed technological failure that guarantees you miss kickoff, the goal, and possibly the whole first half.
Read full entry →An almost supernatural pattern in which every doorbell ring occurs the precise second you're least able to answer it.
Read full entry →A cruel, perfectly timed coincidence between a council permit renewal date and increased enforcement activity.
Read full entry →A brief but total collapse of professional dignity caused entirely by predictive text with a mind of its own.
Read full entry →A serious social transgression against the unwritten laws of the Underground, punished swiftly by tuts and sighs.
Read full entry →A wave of genuine satisfaction discovering a promised meal was made with actual pastry, not a lid stuck on stew.
Read full entry →A perfectly timed piece of workplace chaos guaranteed to disrupt exactly the meeting you can least afford to lose.
Read full entry →A brief, deafening moment of pure joy achieved for a total investment of roughly one pound fifty.
Read full entry →A collective, unexplained group silence that leaves the original sender wondering what exactly they did wrong.
Read full entry →A mysterious, uncancellable queue of documents that materialises the moment you simply wanted to print a receipt.
Read full entry →A vast, purposeless block of calendar time booked under the misleading guise of a 'quick chat'.
Read full entry →A recurring, entirely unwanted cold call disguised as market research, always somehow named Dave.
Read full entry →A catastrophic, tone-deaf text response typed on autopilot before actually reading the full message.
Read full entry →A summer driving crisis combining British heat intolerance with a deep-seated national fear of stinging insects.
Read full entry →A single, unexplained syllable of concern that instantly guarantees an expensive, unwelcome follow-up appointment.
Read full entry →An unwelcome, mid-meal disruption in which diners are asked to gather their coats for absolutely no clear reason.
Read full entry →A thin, unconvincing denial of reality TV fandom immediately undone by encyclopaedic contestant knowledge.
Read full entry →A rare, genuinely surprising moment of railway justice where the ticketing system functions as intended.
Read full entry →A collective, unspoken sense of seasonal comfort triggered by the sight of the first real fire of the year.
Read full entry →A frantic, joyful national instinct to spot and photograph a rainbow the very moment conditions allow.
Read full entry →A pointless, drawn-out internal deliberation over a seasonal pleasantry that no one else is thinking about at all.
Read full entry →A daily, high-stakes ritual of redialling repeatedly in a desperate bid to secure one of three available appointments.
Read full entry →A sudden, catastrophising spiral triggered by six innocuous words from the human resources department.
Read full entry →A last-minute, poorly timed work request delivered exclusively at the precise moment of departure.
Read full entry →The dictionary is still being written
Submit it directly for editorial review, without designing a card first.