Have you ever experienced “velvetmist”?
It’s described as “a nuanced and intricate feeling that inspires sensations of comfort, tranquility, and a soft feeling of weightlessness.” It’s serene, yet more fleeting and elusive than contentment. This sensation may be triggered by witnessing a sunset or listening to a mellow, understated album.
If you’ve never encountered this feeling—or even come across the term—that’s understandable. A Reddit user named noahjeadie developed it using ChatGPT, along with suggestions on how to invoke the sensation. With the appropriate essential oils and music, it seems you too can feel like “a gentle, soft draped ghost gliding through a lavender neighborhood.”
Don’t dismiss it: Researchers indicate that an increasing number of terms for these “neo-emotions” are surfacing online, defining new dimensions and facets of feeling. Velvetmist was a prominent example in a scholarly article regarding the phenomenon published in July 2025. However, most neo-emotions aren’t the creations of emotional AI. Humans originate them, reflecting a significant shift in how researchers view emotions, emphasizing how individuals continuously generate new ones in response to an evolving world.
Velvetmist may have originated as a chatbot novelty, but it’s not isolated. Sociologist Marci Cottingham—whose 2024 paper catalyzed this realm of neo-emotion study—points to many more new terms in use. Examples include “Black joy” (the celebration of embodied pleasure among Black people as a form of political resistance), “trans euphoria” (the joy of having one’s gender identity acknowledged and celebrated), “eco-anxiety” (the persistent fear of climate catastrophe), “hypernormalization” (the surreal burden of maintaining ordinary life and labor under capitalism during a global crisis or authoritarian takeover), and the sense of “doom” found in “doomer” (one who harbors relentless pessimism) or “doomscrolling” (being fixated on a continuous stream of negative news while in a state of paralysis combining indifference and fear).
Undoubtedly, emotional terminology is constantly evolving. During the Civil War, physicians utilized the age-old term “nostalgia,” merging Greek words meaning “returning home” and “pain,” to label a sometimes lethal set of symptoms experienced by soldiers—a condition we might now define as post-traumatic stress disorder. Nowadays, nostalgia’s connotation has softened, becoming a gentle fondness for a past cultural artifact or departed lifestyle. Moreover, individuals consistently borrow emotional terms from various cultures when they prove useful or evocative—such as hygge (the Danish word for warm coziness) or kvell (a Yiddish expression indicating overflowing happiness).
Cottingham suggests that neo-emotions are proliferating as individuals spend increasing time in online spaces. These new terms aid in connecting with one another and understanding our experiences, garnering significant interaction on social networks. Thus, even when a neo-emotion is simply a slight variation or amalgamation of existing feelings, elaborating on those emotions enables us to reflect and bond with others. “These are potentially indicators that reveal our standing in the world,” she states.
These neo-emotions are part of a fundamental transformation in emotional science. For many years, experts contended that humans universally share a set of six or so fundamental emotions. However, over the last decade, Lisa Feldman Barrett, a clinical psychologist at Northeastern University, has emerged as one of the most frequently cited researchers in the world for her work disproving this notion. Utilizing advanced brain imaging technologies and studying infants and individuals from relatively secluded cultures, she has determined that there is no such thing as a fundamental emotional palette. The manner in which we perceive and articulate our feelings is shaped by cultural contexts. “How do you understand what anger, sadness, and fear are? Because someone instructed you,” Barrett explains.
If genuine “basic” biological emotions do not exist, it emphasizes social and cultural variations in how we interpret our experiences. These interpretations are also capable of shifting over time. “As a sociologist, we consider all emotions as constructed,” Cottingham remarks. Similar to any other tools crafted and utilized by humans, “emotions serve as a practical resource enabling individuals to navigate the world.”
Some neo-emotions, like velvetmist, may be mere curiosities. Barrett whimsically proposes “chiplessness” to capture the mixed feelings of hunger, frustration, and relief once reaching the end of the bag. Yet others, such as eco-anxiety and Black joy, can gain significant momentum and contribute to mobilizing social movements.
Both exploring and creating your own neo-emotions, with or without the help of a chatbot, could be unexpectedly beneficial. Extensive research supports the advantages of emotional granularity. In essence, the more precise and detailed language you can employ to articulate your feelings, whether positive or negative, the more advantageous it is.
Researchers compare this “emodiversity” to biodiversity or cultural diversity, claiming that a richer world is a more enriched one. It appears that individuals exhibiting higher emotional granularity visit the doctor less often, require fewer days of hospitalization for health issues, and are less inclined to resort to drinking when stressed, drive recklessly, or smoke cigarettes. Numerous studies indicate that emodiversity is a skill that can be cultivated at any age with training. Just imagine gliding into this soothing, comforting future. Does the notion evoke a certain dreamy excitement within you?
Are you certain you’ve never experienced velvetmist?
Anya Kamenetz is a freelance education journalist who authors the Substack newsletter The Golden Hour.
