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Glite Dictionary
🤔 Realizing others' lives 🤔 To notice others' lives
to sonder

to sonder

9.9
To suddenly think that every stranger has a full life like yours
  • verb
  • Literature
: sonder
  • Do you ever sonder about the lives of strangers?

Examples

  • As I sat on the park bench, I started to sonder about the lives of the people jogging by.

  • While walking through the busy city, she began to sonder about the strangers passing by.

  • He often sonders in cafes, wondering about the stories behind each face he sees.

  • After reading a novel, I started to sonder more about the people I meet every day.

  • I often sonder when I walk through busy streets.

  • While waiting at the bus stop, she began to sonder about what stories the strangers around her had.

  • Walking through the market, I often sonder about the thoughts and experiences that shape each vendor's day.

How Profound

to sonder
  • Literature
9.9
to realize
  • US
∞ 1.1
to notice
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

sonder infinitive
sondered past
sondered past participle
sondering present participle
sonders third person singular

Etymology

Sonder (verb) comes from the same recent word made up by writer John Koenig and means 'to suddenly realize that every passerby has a full, vivid life'. Think of it like 'to wonder' about strangers — the action of imagining their stories is to sonder.