Relationships
Fauxstalgia
(n.)
The ache for a memory that was AI-generated and never actually lived through.
The app generated a video of Grandpa laughing, stirring fauxstalgia for his grandkids who never got to meet him.
ROHIT BHARGAVA AND HENRY COUTINHO-MASON
FUTURE WORDS
A non-obvious glossary of terms that don’t exist (but soon will).
This book is for word lovers, trend spotters, and anyone who has ever wished for a word that didn’t quite exist.
- 100
- coined terms
- 10
- chapters
- 20 OCT
- 2026 release
Which future word are you living?
Press the button — discover a new word from the future.
Words for the world arriving now.
Relationships, identity, technology, travel, leisure, parenting, work, money, health, and (our favorite chapter) future insults.
TECHNOLOGY
Algonesia
(n.)The inability to remember whether you discovered something yourself or were served it by an algorithm.
TECHNOLOGY
Angorithm
(n.)An algorithm engineered to convert your outrage into engagement, learning exactly which furies keep you scrolling.
RELATIONSHIPS
Fauxstalgia
(n.)The ache for a memory that was AI-generated and never actually lived through.
TRAVEL
Skyburb
(n.)An outlying location transformed into prime real estate by the arrival of aerial transportation options and convenient drone delivery.
WORK & CAREERS
Ladderdodging
(n.)Declining or choosing not to seek out a promotion or high-level role in order to avoid the added pressure, risk, and loneliness that often comes with management positions.
TECHNOLOGY
Glitchenfreude
(n.)The vindicated delight of watching supposedly godlike technology fail in public.
WORK & CAREERS
Futuresplaining
(n. / v.)The act of (over)confidently narrating a future you haven’t tested or researched, often with slides.
PARENTING
Hoverwhelmed
(adj.)Caught between tracking your child responsibly and becoming obsessed with the flood of real-time parenting data.
LEISURE & PLAY
Botique
(n.)A retail or service experience that is entirely automated, yet still sold as luxurious, personalized, and premium.
MONEY
Paydaze
(n.)The disorientation of earning from multiple sources and being paid on no set schedule.
LEISURE & PLAY
Sportling
(n.)A simpler, faster spin-off of a demanding sport, designed to be easier to play or watch.
TECHNOLOGY
Veritax
(n.)The cognitive cost of having to constantly verify the authenticity of everything you see and hear.
Twelve teaser words. Want to preview more words? Join our launch team here →
Take a look inside.
A few spreads from the book: every word gets its definition, a usage example, and the coinage notes behind it.
When the world changes faster than our language, we make new words.
Language has never sat still. Words such as serendipity and cyberspace began as inventions: writers reaching for something no existing word could hold.
Future Words names the emerging tensions already reshaping relationships, identity, work, money, health, technology, leisure, parenting, and travel. Smart enough to provoke. Playful enough to give to the logophile in your life.
Meet the wordmakers.
Rohit Bhargava
Founder of the Non-Obvious Company and a three-time bestselling author of more than 10 books. Rohit is an avid writer, long-time word lover, and has been invited to speak about trends in the future in 32 countries around the world.
Henry Coutinho-Mason
Author of two previous award-winning books on future trends, and the creator of the multiplayer interactive keynote, VisuAIse Futures. Based in London, he's shared his optimistic provocations with audiences on every continent except Antarctica.
BOOK DETAILS
A future classic, sized for the present.
- Format
- Hardcover, 5.25 × 7.5 inches
- Pages
- 240 color pages
- Publication
- 20 October 2026
- Retail price
- $24.00 USD
- ISBN
- 978-1-64687-337-1
- Distribution
- Simon & Schuster
Pre-order from your favorite bookseller:
GET AN ADVANCE LOOK AT THE BOOK
Join the Future Words Book Launch Team.
Get a preview of the book, more backstories behind the coinages, some lost words from our research, and more occasional linguistic mischief.