Any quick search will reveal some staggering pieces of data for you about words in the English language. The most recent record shows that there are over 170,000 words in the English language. This doesn’t include the 50,000 words that are now considered obsolete. The average native English speaking adult knows over 35,000 words. Native English speakers as young as four already know 5,000 of those words, and will learn at least one word a day until they reach middle adulthood! With this many words to learn, it’s easy to find long words in English.
Do you want to expand your vocabulary and learn more long words in English? You’re in luck! We have compiled 25 of the most challenging words in the English language.
25 Most Challenging Long Words in English
There are many factors to consider when assessing the most challenging words in the English language. First, these words are difficult to spell. Whether it is because of silent letters or letter arrangements, people commonly stumble over the correct arrangement of letters in these words.
Next, they are uncommon, and you are unlikely to hear them in regular conversation. The origins of these words range from Western and Eastern cultures, and some words are very niche.
Finally, these are long words in English, making them more complex than our day-to-day jargon.
Here is our curated list of the 25 most challenging long words in English.
Guayabera
noun, gua·ya·bera
A short-sleeved lightweight shirt traditionally worn untucked. Connected the Puerto Rican and Cuban cultures, these shirts generally feature tropical patterns.
Aniseikonia
noun, an·is·ei·ko·nia
A defect of the eyes, which results in the two eye’s prescription differing. This causes the size of an object to differ between eyes, causing the eyes to magnify and shrink simultaneously.
Ginglymus
noun, gin·gly·mus
A joint at a bending point that can only move on a singular plane (like an elbow or knee).
Eleemosynary
adjective, el·ee·mo·sy·nary
relating to, or supporting by a charity.
Hagiographer
noun, ha·gi·og·ra·phy
A biographer who focuses solely on the biographies of saints.
It can also be somebody who idolizes the person they are writing the biography for.
Rajpramukh
noun, raj·pra·mukh
The constitutional head of a state of India formed from several former princely states who is elected by a council of rulers.
Connoisseur
noun, con·nois·seur
An expert on a specific topic. Somebody who knows and appreciates the unique subtleties of something.
Ferruginous
adjective, fer·ru·gi·nous
Something that contains or looks like iron.
Erubescent
adjective, r·u·bes·cent
To turn something the color red (or reddish).
Mignonette
noun, mi·gnon·ette
- an annual garden herb, is known for creating fragrant white flowers.
- A sauce made with vinegar, pepper, and herbs, typically served with oysters.
Obliviscence
noun, ob·li·vis·cence
The act of being forgetful.
Gesellschaft
noun, ge·sell·schaft
Social relations based on impersonal ties as a duty to a society or organization.
Demitasse
noun, demi·tasse
A small cup of black coffee (also what you call the cup the coffee is served in).
Hackamore
noun, hack·a·more
A harness with a loop that can be tightened (or loosened) over the nose. This replaces the bit and provides a slip noose passed over the lower jaw.
Tomography
noun, to·mog·ra·phy
A method of producing a three-dimensional image of the internal structures of a solid object (such as the human body or the earth). This is achieved through observing and recording how different elements pass through the structures.
Sesquipedalian
adjective, ses·qui·pe·da·lian
A word that has many syllables. A long word.
Expugnable
adjective, ex·pug·na·ble
Something likely to be captured.
Embouchure
noun, em·bou·chure
The use of the mouth (teeth, tongue, and lips) to successfully play a woodwind instrument.
Clerihew
noun, cler·i·hew
A light verse quatrain rhyming AABB and usually dealing with a person named in the initial rhyme.
Apoplexy
noun, ap·o·plexy
medical stroke or hemorrhage into vital organs.
A state of intense anger.
Griffonage
noun, grif·fo·nage
Illegible handwriting, usually associated with carelessness.
Calefacient
adjective, cal·e·fa·cient
The process of making something warm.
Rhinorrhagia
noun, rhi·nor·rha·gia
Nosebleed
Plangency
noun, plan·gen·cy
The state of being plain. Hearing a loud and reverberating sound.
Consanguine
adjective, con·san·guine
Being related through blood and/or origin.
Want to Master Complex Words like These?
Learning long words in English can seem like a daunting task, but there are ways to hack defining words on the fly. There are a handful of tricks to use when defining words that you don’t know.
First, it is important to learn the affixes in English. Affixes, or prefixes and suffixes, are generalized sets of letters that help readers define the word. For example, the prefix un- means to take away. So when you see the word undo, you can quickly define it as “take away doing.”
While the definition might be a little choppy, you get the idea.
If you have a strong command of the affixes, roots, and stems of long words in English, you will be able to have a better chance of defining them without the use of a dictionary.
If you are preparing for an exam with a vocabulary section (like the
), it is important to have these skills. Since it’s nearly impossible to memorize all 170,000 words in the English language, you will have a better chance at success by learning tricks like this to decode words on the fly.
What is your best tip for defining long words in English? Let us know in the comments below!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The identity of the longest word in English depends on the definition of a word and of length.
Words may be derived naturally from the language’s roots or formed by coinage and construction. Additionally, comparisons are complicated because place names may be considered words, technical terms may be arbitrarily long, and the addition of suffixes and prefixes may extend the length of words to create grammatically correct but unused or novel words.
The length of a word may also be understood in multiple ways. Most commonly, length is based on orthography (conventional spelling rules) and counting the number of written letters. Alternate, but less common, approaches include phonology (the spoken language) and the number of phonemes (sounds).
| Word | Letters | Meaning | Claim | Dispute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylalanyl…isoleucine | 189,819 | The chemical composition of titin, the largest known protein | Longest known word overall by magnitudes. Attempts to say the entire word have taken two[1] to three and a half hours.[2] | Technical; not in dictionary; whether this should actually be considered a word is disputed |
| methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamyl…serine | 1,909 | The chemical name of E. coli TrpA (P0A877) | Longest published word[3] | Technical |
| lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsano…pterygon | 183 | A fictional dish of food | Longest word coined by a major author,[4] the longest word ever to appear in literature[5] | Contrived nonce word; not in dictionary; Ancient Greek transliteration |
| pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis | 45 | The disease silicosis | Longest word in a major dictionary[6] | Contrived coinage to make it the longest word; technical, but only mentioned and never actually used in communication |
| supercalifragilisticexpialidocious | 34 | Unclear in source work, has been cited as a nonsense word | Made popular in the Mary Poppins film and musical[7] | Contrived coinage |
| pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism | 30 | A hereditary medical disorder | Longest non-contrived word in a major dictionary[8] | Technical |
| antidisestablishmentarianism | 28 | The political position of opposing disestablishment | Longest non-contrived and nontechnical word[9] | Not all dictionaries accept it due to lack of usage.[10] |
| honorificabilitudinitatibus | 27 | The state of being able to achieve honors | Longest word in Shakespeare’s works; longest word in the English language featuring alternating consonants and vowels[11] | Latin |
Major dictionaries
The longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters), a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles,[12] specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis. The word was deliberately coined to be the longest word in English, and has since been used[citation needed] in a close approximation of its originally intended meaning, lending at least some degree of validity to its claim.[6]
The Oxford English Dictionary contains pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters).
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary does not contain antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters), as the editors found no widespread, sustained usage of the word in its original meaning. The longest word in that dictionary is electroencephalographically (27 letters).[13]
The longest non-technical word in major dictionaries is floccinaucinihilipilification at 29 letters. Consisting of a series of Latin words meaning «nothing» and defined as «the act of estimating something as worthless»; its usage has been recorded as far back as 1741.[14][15][16]
Ross Eckler has noted that most of the longest English words are not likely to occur in general text, meaning non-technical present-day text seen by casual readers, in which the author did not specifically intend to use an unusually long word. According to Eckler, the longest words likely to be encountered in general text are deinstitutionalization and counterrevolutionaries, with 22 letters each.[17]
A computer study of over a million samples of normal English prose found that the longest word one is likely to encounter on an everyday basis is uncharacteristically, at 20 letters.[18]
The word internationalization is abbreviated «i18n», the embedded number representing the number of letters between the first and the last.[19][20][21]
Creations of long words
Coinages
In his play Assemblywomen (Ecclesiazousae), the ancient Greek comedic playwright Aristophanes created a word of 171 letters (183 in the transliteration below), which describes a dish by stringing together its ingredients:
Henry Carey’s farce Chrononhotonthologos (1743) holds the opening line: «Aldiborontiphoscophornio! Where left you Chrononhotonthologos?»
Thomas Love Peacock put these creations into the mouth of the phrenologist Mr. Cranium in his 1816 book Headlong Hall: osteosarchaematosplanchnochondroneuromuelous (44 characters) and osseocarnisanguineoviscericartilaginonervomedullary (51 characters).
James Joyce made up nine 100-letter words plus one 101-letter word in his novel Finnegans Wake, the most famous of which is Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk. Appearing on the first page, it allegedly represents the symbolic thunderclap associated with the fall of Adam and Eve. As it appears nowhere else except in reference to this passage, it is generally not accepted as a real word. Sylvia Plath made mention of it in her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar, when the protagonist was reading Finnegans Wake.
«Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious», the 34-letter title of a song from the movie Mary Poppins, does appear in several dictionaries, but only as a proper noun defined in reference to the song title. The attributed meaning is «a word that you say when you don’t know what to say.» The idea and invention of the word is credited to songwriters Robert and Richard Sherman.
Agglutinative constructions
The English language permits the legitimate extension of existing words to serve new purposes by the addition of prefixes and suffixes. This is sometimes referred to as agglutinative construction. This process can create arbitrarily long words: for example, the prefixes pseudo (false, spurious) and anti (against, opposed to) can be added as many times as desired. More familiarly, the addition of numerous «great»s to a relative, such as «great-great-great-great-grandparent», can produce words of arbitrary length. In musical notation, an 8192nd note may be called a semihemidemisemihemidemisemihemidemisemiquaver.
Antidisestablishmentarianism is the longest common example of a word formed by agglutinative construction.
Technical terms
A number of scientific naming schemes can be used to generate arbitrarily long words.
The IUPAC nomenclature for organic chemical compounds is open-ended, giving rise to the 189,819-letter chemical name Methionylthreonylthreonyl…isoleucine for the protein also known as titin, which is involved in striated muscle formation. In nature, DNA molecules can be much bigger than protein molecules and therefore potentially be referred to with much longer chemical names. For example, the wheat chromosome 3B contains almost 1 billion base pairs,[22] so the sequence of one of its strands, if written out in full like Adenilyladenilylguanilylcystidylthymidyl…, would be about 8 billion letters long. The longest published word, Acetylseryltyrosylseryliso…serine, referring to the coat protein of a certain strain of tobacco mosaic virus (P03575), is 1,185 letters long, and appeared in the American Chemical Society’s Chemical Abstracts Service in 1964 and 1966.[23] In 1965, the Chemical Abstracts Service overhauled its naming system and started discouraging excessively long names. In 2011, a dictionary broke this record with a 1909-letter word describing the trpA protein (P0A877).[3]
John Horton Conway and Landon Curt Noll developed an open-ended system for naming powers of 10, in which one sexmilliaquingentsexagintillion, coming from the Latin name for 6560, is the name for 103(6560+1) = 1019683. Under the long number scale, it would be 106(6560) = 1039360.
Gammaracanthuskytodermogammarus loricatobaicalensis is sometimes cited as the longest binomial name—it is a kind of amphipod. However, this name, proposed by B. Dybowski, was invalidated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature in 1929 after being petitioned by Mary J. Rathbun to take up the case.[24]
Myxococcus llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochensis is the longest accepted binomial name for an organism. It is a bacterium found in soil collected at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll (discussed below). Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides is the longest accepted binomial name for any animal, or any organism visible with the naked eye. It is a species of soldier fly.[25] The genus name Parapropalaehoplophorus (a fossil glyptodont, an extinct family of mammals related to armadillos) is two letters longer, but does not contain a similarly long species name.
Aequeosalinocalcalinoceraceoaluminosocupreovitriolic, at 52 letters, describing the spa waters at Bath, England, is attributed to Dr. Edward Strother (1675–1737).[26] The word is composed of the following elements:
- Aequeo: equal (Latin, aequo[27])
- Salino: containing salt (Latin, salinus)
- Calcalino: calcium (Latin, calx)
- Ceraceo: waxy (Latin, cera)
- Aluminoso: alumina (Latin)
- Cupreo: from «copper»
- Vitriolic: resembling vitriol
Notable long words
Place names
The longest officially recognized place name in an English-speaking country is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu (85 letters), which is a hill in New Zealand. The name is in the Māori language. A widely recognized version of the name is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu (85 letters), which appears on the signpost at the location (see the photo on this page). In Māori, the digraphs ng and wh are each treated as single letters.
In Canada, the longest place name is Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde, a township in Ontario, at 61 letters or 68 non-space characters.[28]
The 58-letter name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the name of a town on Anglesey, an island of Wales. In terms of the traditional Welsh alphabet, the name is only 51 letters long, as certain digraphs in Welsh are considered as single letters, for instance ll, ng and ch. It is generally agreed, however, that this invented name, adopted in the mid-19th century, was contrived solely to be the longest name of any town in Britain. The official name of the place is Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, commonly abbreviated to Llanfairpwll or Llanfair PG.
The longest non-contrived place name in the United Kingdom which is a single non-hyphenated word is Cottonshopeburnfoot (19 letters) and the longest which is hyphenated is Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe (29 characters).
The longest place name in the United States (45 letters) is Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, a lake in Webster, Massachusetts. It means «Fishing Place at the Boundaries – Neutral Meeting Grounds» and is sometimes facetiously translated as «you fish your side of the water, I fish my side of the water, nobody fishes the middle». The lake is also known as Webster Lake.[29] The longest hyphenated names in the U.S. are Winchester-on-the-Severn, a town in Maryland, and Washington-on-the-Brazos, a notable place in Texas history. The longest single-word town names in the U.S. are Kleinfeltersville, Pennsylvania and Mooselookmeguntic, Maine.
The longest official geographical name in Australia is Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya.[30] It has 26 letters and is a Pitjantjatjara word meaning «where the Devil urinates».[31]
Liechtenstein is the longest country name with single name in English. The second longest country name with single name in English is Turkmenistan. There are longer country names if one includes ones with spaces.
Personal names
Guinness World Records formerly contained a category for longest personal name used.
- From about 1975 to 1985, the recordholder was Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorffvoralternwarengewissenhaftschaferswessenschafewarenwohlgepflegeundsorgfaltigkeitbeschutzenvonangreifendurchihrraubgierigfeindewelchevoralternzwolftausendjahresvorandieerscheinenwanderersteerdemenschderraumschiffgebrauchlichtalsseinursprungvonkraftgestartseinlangefahrthinzwischensternartigraumaufdersuchenachdiesternwelchegehabtbewohnbarplanetenkreisedrehensichundwohinderneurassevonverstandigmenschlichkeitkonntefortplanzenundsicherfreuenanlebenslanglichfreudeundruhemitnichteinfurchtvorangreifenvonandererintelligentgeschopfsvonhinzwischensternartigraum, Senior (746 letters), also known as Wolfe+585, Senior.
- After 1985 Guinness briefly awarded the record to a newborn girl with a longer name. The category was removed shortly afterward.
Long birth names are often coined in protest of naming laws or for other personal reasons.
- The naming law in Sweden was challenged by parents Lasse Diding and Elisabeth Hallin, who proposed the given name «Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116» for their child (pronounced [ˈǎlːbɪn], 43 characters), which was rejected by a district court in Halmstad, southern Sweden.
Words with certain characteristics of notable length
- Schmaltzed and strengthed (10 letters) appear to be the longest monosyllabic words recorded in The Oxford English Dictionary, while scraunched and scroonched appear to be the longest monosyllabic words recorded in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary; but squirrelled (11 letters) is the longest if pronounced as one syllable only (as permitted in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary at squirrel, and in Longman Pronunciation Dictionary). Schtroumpfed (12 letters) was coined by Umberto Eco, while broughammed (11 letters) was coined by William Harmon after broughamed (10 letters) was coined by George Bernard Shaw.
- Strengths is the longest word in the English language containing only one vowel letter.[32]
- Euouae, a medieval musical term, is the longest English word consisting only of vowels, and the word with the most consecutive vowels. However, the «word» itself is simply a mnemonic consisting of the vowels to be sung in the phrase «seculorum Amen» at the end of the lesser doxology. (Although u was often used interchangeably with v, and the variant «Evovae» is occasionally used, the v in these cases would still be a vowel.)
- The longest words with no repeated letters are dermatoglyphics and uncopyrightable.[33]
- The longest word whose letters are in alphabetical order is the eight-letter Aegilops, a grass genus. However, this is arguably a proper noun. There are several six-letter English words with their letters in alphabetical order, including abhors, almost, begins, biopsy, chimps and chintz.[34] There are few 7-letter words, such as «billowy» and «beefily». The longest words whose letters are in reverse alphabetical order are sponged, wronged and trollied.
- The longest words recorded in OED with each vowel only once, and in order, are abstemiously, affectiously, and tragediously (OED). Fracedinously and gravedinously (constructed from adjectives in OED) have thirteen letters; Gadspreciously, constructed from Gadsprecious (in OED), has fourteen letters. Facetiously is among the few other words directly attested in OED with single occurrences of all six vowels (counting y as a vowel).
- The longest single palindromic word in English is rotavator, another name for a rotary tiller for breaking and aerating soil.
Typed words
- The longest words typable with only the left hand using conventional hand placement on a QWERTY keyboard are tesseradecades, aftercataracts, dereverberated, dereverberates[35] and the more common but sometimes hyphenated sweaterdresses.[34] Using the right hand alone, the longest word that can be typed is johnny-jump-up, or, excluding hyphens, monimolimnion[36] and phyllophyllin.
- The longest English word typable using only the top row of letters has 11 letters: rupturewort. The word teetertotter (used in North American English) is longer at 12 letters, although it is usually spelled with a hyphen.
- The longest using only the middle row is shakalshas (10 letters). Nine-letter words include flagfalls; eight-letter words include galahads and alfalfas.
- Since the bottom row contains no vowels, no standard words can be formed. [37]
- The longest words typable by alternating left and right hands are antiskepticism and leucocytozoans respectively.[34]
- On a Dvorak keyboard, the longest «left-handed» words are epopoeia, jipijapa, peekapoo, and quiaquia.[38] Other such long words are papaya, Kikuyu, opaque, and upkeep.[39] Kikuyu is typed entirely with the index finger, and so the longest one-fingered word on the Dvorak keyboard. There are no vowels on the right-hand side, and so the longest «right-handed» word is crwths.
See also
- Lipogram
- List of long species names
- List of the longest English words with one syllable
- Longest English sentence
- Longest word in French
- Longest word in Romanian
- Longest word in Spanish
- Longest word in Turkish
- Number of words in English
- Scriptio continua
- Sesquipedalianism
- Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft, longest published word in German
References
- ^ «Reading The Longest English Word (190,000 Characters)». YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- ^ «World’s longest word takes 3.5 hours to pronounce». CW39 Houston. 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
- ^ a b Colista Moore (2011). Student’s Dictionary. p. 524. ISBN 978-1-934669-21-1.
- ^ see separate article Lopado…pterygon
- ^ Donald McFarlan; Norris Dewar McWhirter; David A. Boeh (1989). Guinness book of world records: 1990. Sterling. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-8069-5790-6.
- ^ a b Coined around 1935 to be the longest word; press reports on puzzle league members legitimized it somewhat. First appeared in the MWNID supplement, 1939. Today OED and several others list it, but citations are almost always as «longest word». More detail at pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
- ^ «Merriam Webster: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious».
- ^ «What is the longest English word?». AskOxford. Archived from the original on 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
- ^ «What is the longest English word?». oxforddictionaries.com.[dead link]
- ^ «Merriam Webster: «Antidisestablishmentarianism is not in the dictionary.»«.
- ^ «Cool, Strange, and Interesting Facts,» fact 99. InnocentEnglish.com. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
- ^ «pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis – definition of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis in English from the Oxford dictionary». oxforddictionaries.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-19.
- ^ «The Longest Word in the Dictionary» (Video). Ask the Editor. Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 21 November 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ «Floccinaucinihilipilification» by Michael Quinion World Wide Words Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine;
- ^ The Guinness Book of Records, in its 1992 and previous editions, declared the longest real word in the English language to be floccinaucinihilipilification. More recent editions of the book have acknowledged pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. What is the longest English word? — Oxford Dictionaries Online Archived 2006-08-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ In recent times its usage has been recorded in the proceedings of the United States Senate by Senator Robert Byrd Discussion between Sen. Moynihan and Sen. Byrd «Mr. President, may I say to the distinguished Senator from New York, I used that word on the Senate floor myself 2 or 3 years ago. I cannot remember just when or what the occasion was, but I used it on that occasion to indicate that whatever it was I was discussing it was something like a mere trifle or nothing really being of moment.» Congressional Record June 17, 1991, p. S7887, and at the White House by Bill Clinton’s press secretary Mike McCurry, albeit sarcastically. December 6, 1995, White House Press Briefing in discussing Congressional Budget Office estimates and assumptions: «But if you – as a practical matter of estimating the economy, the difference is not great. There’s a little bit of floccinaucinihilipilification going on here.»
- ^ Eckler, R. Making the Alphabet Dance, p 252, 1996.
- ^ «Longest Common Words – Modern». Maltron.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
- ^ «Glossary of W3C Jargon». World Wide Web Consortium. Archived from the original on 2008-10-25. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ «Origin of the Abbreviation I18n». Archived from the original on 2014-06-27.
- ^ «Localization vs. Internationalization». World Wide Web Consortium. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03.
- ^ Paux et al. (2008) Science, Vol. 322 (5898) 101-104. A Physical Map of the 1-Gigabase Bread Wheat Chromosome 3B Paux, Etienne; Sourdille, Pierre; Salse, Jérôme; Saintenac, Cyrille; Choulet, Frédéric; Leroy, Philippe; Korol, Abraham; Michalak, Monika; Kianian, Shahryar; Spielmeyer, Wolfgang; Lagudah, Evans; Somers, Daryl; Kilian, Andrzej; Alaux, Michael; Vautrin, Sonia; Bergès, Hélène; Eversole, Kellye; Appels, Rudi; Safar, Jan; Simkova, Hana; Dolezel, Jaroslav; Bernard, Michel; Feuillet, Catherine (2008). «A Physical Map of the 1-Gigabase Bread Wheat Chromosome 3B». Science. 322 (5898): 101–104. Bibcode:2008Sci…322..101P. doi:10.1126/science.1161847. PMID 18832645. S2CID 27686615. Archived from the original on 2015-09-03. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
- ^ Chemical Abstracts Formula Index, Jan.-June 1964, Page 967F; Chemical Abstracts 7th Coll. Formulas, C23H32-Z, 56-65, 1962–1966, Page 6717F
- ^ «Opinion 105. Dybowski’s (1926) Names of Crustacea Suppressed». Opinions Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature: Opinions 105 to 114. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Vol. 73. 1929. pp. 1–3. hdl:10088/23619. BHL page 8911139.
- ^ rjk. «World’s longest name of an animal. Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides Stratiomyid Fly Soldier Fly». thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com. Archived from the original on 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
- ^ cited in some editions of the Guinness Book of Records as the longest word in English, see Askoxford.com on the longest English word
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ «GeoNames Government of Canada site». Archived from the original on 2009-02-06.
- ^ Belluck, Pam (2004-11-20). «What’s the Name of That Lake? It’s Hard to Say». The New York Times.
- ^ «Geoscience Australia Gazetteer». Archived from the original on 2007-10-01.
- ^ «South Australian State Gazetteer». Archived from the original on 2007-10-01.
- ^ «Guinness Records».
- ^ «Longest Word Without Repeating Letters». December 2014.
- ^ a b c «Typewriter Words». Questrel.com. Archived from the original on 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
- ^ «Science Links Japan | Two Unique Aftercataracts Requiring Surgical Removal». Sciencelinks.jp. 2009-03-18. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
- ^ «Dictionary entry for monimolimnion, a word that, at 13 letters, is longer than any of the words linked in the source above». Archived from the original on 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
- ^ «Word Records». Fun-with-words.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-26. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
- ^ «Typewriter Words». Wordnik.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2011-01-15.
- ^ «The Dvorak Keyboard and You». Theworldofstuff.com. Archived from the original on 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
External links
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 8 January 2011, and does not reflect subsequent edits.
- A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia – Long words
- Long words (chemical names)
- Long words (place names)
- What is the longest English word?, AskOxford.com «Ask the Experts»
- What is the Longest Word?, Fun-With-Words.com
- Full chemical name of titin.
- Taxonomy of Wordplay
Longest Words: You have been using English for quite a while now for writing, reading, thinking, and even dreaming. English, as a language, has become a part and do up of your life. But have you ever wondered about the unique and weird words in the English language? How many times have you thought of the number of words in the English language or the smallest word or the longest word in the English language? It is not every day that we think of such weird aspects of the English language because we are so used to speaking the language that we don’t take interest and dig deep into the interesting facts about this beautiful, yet universal language.
As a result of that, in this particular article on longest words in the English language, we are going to talk about these unique titbits in the English language. One interesting fact to be noted here is that the English language, as per the Oxford English Dictionary, has approximately 171,500 words so far. That is quite a lot of vocabulary to consume in one single life, isn’t it? Thus, we will discuss a few longest words that are mentioned in the Oxford English dictionary with their meaning.
- 10 Longest Words in English Language with Meaning
- Where Do We Use Longest Words?
- FAQs on Longest Words in English
10 Longest Words in English Language with Meaning
Below is a list of the 10 longest words in the English language, along with their meaning and usage:
- Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis: This massive 45-letter English word is the longest one in the Oxford English dictionary so far. This term refers to a lung disease that is caused by the inhalation of extremely fine particles of silica and quartz dust. Yes, now you know the longest word in the English language has 45 letters in it.
- Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia: This 36-letter, increasingly complicated word is one of the English language’s longest. With a whopping 36 letters and a difficult pronunciation, it is the word with the longest time taken for proper pronunciation. This word refers to having an abnormal fear of long words. The irony is that the name is hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: Another competitor for the previous two words, with a whopping 34 letters. Also, this is one of the most popular long words in the English language. Its popularity grew after it was widely used in the film Mary Poppins. This word refers to saying something when you have nothing to say. There is a very catchy song written on this word, the most atrocious word in the English language, as per the song.
- Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism: This soothing word for the ears is the fourth longest in the English language, with 30 letters. It refers to a mild disorder in the bloodstream that is mainly characterized by an increased level of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. Well, medical professionals and doctors will have a tough time pronouncing it for the rest of their lives.
- Floccinaucinihilipilification: another funny but important word is one of the longest words in the Mariam Webster dictionary, which has 29 letters in it. This word refers to a habit or an act that is unimportant or has no value or recognition. While the meaning of the word has no value or is worthless, the word itself has a lot of value in English literature academic circles. It is mostly used in a humorous manner.
- Antidisestablishmentarianism: This 28-letter-composed word refers to a 19th-century political turmoil experienced in the British Empire, which demanded the separation of the Church from the state administration. People in this movement wanted the Church of England to be deposed as the official state church of England, Ireland, and Wales.
- Honorificabilitudinitatibus: One of the most difficult words to pronounce in this article is “honorificabilitudinitatibus.” It is the longest word in the language of English and consists of a mix of vowels and consonants.
- Thyroparathyroidectomism: A 25-letter word is once again a technical and medical term. There are plenty of such words in the field of medicine that can make a doctor’s life more difficult as it is. This term refers to the removal or surgery of the thyroid and parathyroid glands. Once again, one should note that there are many such words in the field of surgery and medicine, and the reason for this is that most of these words are taken from a mix of languages such as Greek, Latin, Russian, and French.
- Dicholodifluromethane: This is the only straightforward word in this list of the longest English words that can be understood by laymen, to an extent. This word refers to a chemical vapor known popularly as CFCs, the most common element found in AC, TVs, and vehicular pollution. One must be aware that this chemical substance was the reason for the depletion of our ozone layer a few years ago.
- Incomprehensible: Again, a fairly popular word in the English language, which means something that is not possible to comprehend. This is also referred to as the longest word that is most commonly used by the general public
There are few other longest words in the English language other than the mentioned words in the above section of this longest word. However, these words are very niche in nature and are used by specific groups of people, such as scientists, doctors, astronauts, and engineers. There are plenty of chemical substances whose names are longer than the ones that are mentioned in this article on the longest words in the English language. While most of them are rarely used, it is interesting to know the meaning and usage of these words, both for general knowledge of the English language and just for the fun of it. A few of the technical words that we have come across that are long enough to feature in this article are:
- Radioimmunoelectrophoresis
- Counterimmunoeletrophoresis
- Dicholodiphenyltricholoethane
- Spookydisharmoniousconflicthellride
- Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
Where Are the Longest Words in the English Language Used Most Commonly?
It is clear by now that not all the words mentioned in this article are used by the common man. Hence, in that case, who uses these words and where are they used? The answers to these questions lie below:
- Doctors
- Engineers
- Scientists
- Teachers
- Researchers
- A Journalist
- Diplomats
- Administrators
If you observe closely, you will get to know that most of these words are technical and are related to chemistry, physics, mathematics, geometry, or geography. And hence, these words are rarely used, and even if they are used, they are used only by a specific section of the population.
FAQs on the Longest Words in the English Language
The frequently asked questions on the Longest words in the English language are explained below:
1. Which is the longest word in the English language?
Answer: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest known word in the English language, as per the Oxford Dictionary of English.
2. Where are long words used?
Answer: Long words, which are mostly technical and are mainly used in scientific circles, are used in research papers, scientific journals, newspaper articles on science, and English literature textbooks.
3. Which is the most common longest word in English?
Answer: Incomprehensible is the longest word in English with the most common usage.
Conclusion
We would like to conclude that while the longest words mentioned above are not required by students, writers, or teachers to improve their vocabulary, knowing them is fun and increases mental horizons in English literature. It is also to be noted that this vocabulary will come in handy if you are having a conversation with a medical professional, an engineer, or a scientist who works in the fields to which these words are related.
By
Last updated:
March 10, 2023
The longest word in the English language is “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.”
Try saying that quickly five times!
In this post we’ll explore some of the longest words in English, plus teach you how to break them down so that you can pronounce them easily.
Contents
- Longest Word in English: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
- More Long Words in English
-
- Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylalanyl…isoleucine
- Floccinaucinihilipilification
- Incomprehensibility
- Surreptitious
- Uncharacteristically
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
- Subdermatoglyphic
- Abstentious
- Uncopyrightable
- Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
- Antidisestablishmentarianism
- Honorificabilitudinitatibus
- Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
- Longest Adjectives in English
- Longest Suffixes in English
- Longest Prefixes in English
- Longest Verbs in English
- How to Learn the Longest Words in English
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Longest Word in English: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Letters: 45
Definition (noun): Lung disease caused by breathing in dust or volcanic ash
The patient is experiencing signs of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis after hiking near the site of a volcanic eruption.
This is the longest word that exists in the English language. As with other long words, you should be patient and break it down into its individual components.
As you can see below, knowing the parts of this word will be especially helpful for anyone studying English in an academic, scientific or medical environment.
Essential word parts: Pneumo- (lung), microscopic- (small), coni- (particles) and a suffix: -osis (often indicates a disease).
More Long Words in English
We will show you the essential parts of these long words that can help you learn the word itself and other English words. We will specifically note common English prefixes and suffixes to pay attention to.
Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylalanyl…isoleucine
Letters: 189,819
Definition (noun): Chemical composition of “titin,” which is the largest known protein in the body
This word has taken some people around 2-3.5 hours to pronounce! Amazing, isn’t it? It’s not, however, considered the longest word in English—because it’s not in a dictionary.
Essential word parts: Amino acid residues that make up the protein. These include methionine, threonine, glutamine, alanine, and isoleucine.
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Letters: 29
Definition (noun): Deciding that something has no value
Since my wallet was becoming so huge, I took a few minutes for some floccinaucinihilipilification of all the old cards I was keeping in there.
This is one of those complex words that seems made up. It was formed from various Latin words and can still be confusing to understand after breaking it down.
Essential word part: Nihili- (nothing)
Incomprehensibility
Letters: 19
Definition (noun): Impossible to understand
The incomprehensibility of the word made people question its meaning.
This word has common prefixes and suffixes that you will see in many other English words. Plus, you may already be familiar with more basic forms of this word, such as incomprehensible (adjective — impossible to understand)
Essential word parts: include a prefix in- (not), a root word prehend (from the Latin for “grasp”), and a suffix: –ity (suffix used to form a noun out of an adjective).
Surreptitious
Letters: 13
Definition (adjective): Secret, stealthy
The robbers were surreptitious as they stole the jewels.
This word is used fairly regularly among native English speakers. It is one of the less complex long English words.
Essential word part: Prefix: sur- (under, below)
Uncharacteristically
Letters: 20
Definition (adverb): Not typical
The star basketball player uncharacteristically missed the game-winning shot.
Here is another fairly standard word that helps you practice both a common prefix and suffix.
Essential word parts: Prefix: un- (not) and a suffix: -ly (used to form an adjective)
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Letters: 34
Definition (adjective): Especially wonderful
The sun is shining and all is right in the world. It is a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day.
This is a made-up word that native English speakers recognize from the classic 1964 “Mary Poppins” movie (although a version of this word was invented even earlier).
Essential word parts: Cali- (beauty).
Subdermatoglyphic
Letters: 17
Definition (adjective): Pertaining to the layer of the skin beneath the fingertips
The subdermatoglyphic state of everyone’s fingerprints are different.
This word is extremely rare, and may be more interesting to linguists than to medical professionals. That is because it is a very long isogram, or a word that does not repeat any letters.
Essential word parts: Prefix: sub- (under, below — similar to “sur-“), derma- (skin) and a suffix: -ic (used to form an adjective).
Abstentious
Letters: 11
Definition (adjective): Self-restraining
You never have trouble sticking to your diet. You are so abstentious!
You will more commonly hear abstain, the verb form of this word. Abstain means to avoid or restrain yourself from something, like alcohol, online-shopping, food, etc.
Essential word parts: Suffix: -ious (used to form an adjective).
Uncopyrightable
Letters: 15
Definition (adjective): Not able to copyright a piece of artwork. If something is uncopyrightable, one person cannot prevent others from copying or distributing the art.
The idea was not original, so it was unfortunately uncopyrightable.
Un- and -able are common word parts. Try to memorize these and look for them in other English words.
Essential word parts: Prefix: un- (not) and a suffix: -able (ability).
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
Letters: 35
Definition (noun): Fear of long words
As she read this article, she realized that she had a severe case of hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia.
This may be how you are feeling right now.
Essential word parts: Suffix: -phobia (fear).
Antidisestablishmentarianism
Letters: 28
Definition (noun): A political philosophy opposed to the disestablishment of the Church of England.
The word was used to describe a political movement in England in the 1800s. People supporting this movement were against a plan to separate the church from the state.
There were many supporters of antidisestablishmentarianism in Wales.
Essential word parts: Prefix: anti- (against) and dis- (opposite of), suffix: -arian (engaged in), and -ism (a belief in).
Honorificabilitudinitatibus
Letters: 27
Definition (noun): State of being able to achieve honors.
Dumbledore was well-known for lots of things, including being honorificabilitudinitatibus.
This rare Latin word features in William Shakespeare’s play “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”
Essential word parts: A root word honorificabilitudin (the state of being honorable) and suffix: –itatibus (a state of being).
Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
Letters: 28
Definition (noun): A rare inherited endocrine disorder that causes abnormal growth of bones.
She was diagnosed with pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism.
Essential word parts: Pseudo-(prefix) meaning false, hypo-(prefix) meaning below. Parathyroid- (root word) small glands in our body which regulate calcium, and -ism (suffix) meaning “a belief in.”
Longest Adjectives in English
- Unconventionally — something or someone is not following accepted standards or conventions (14 letters)
- Uncontrollably — in a way that is too strong to be restrained or controlled (13 letters)
- Unforgettably — in a manner that you cannot forget it (13 letters)
- Unimaginably — in a way that’s difficult to imagine (12 letters)
- Unmistakably — in a way that cannot be mistaken for something else (12 letters)
- Unquestionably — in a way that cannot be doubted (13 letters)
- Unreasonably — meaning that something is unfair or not based on good sense (12 letters)
- Unstoppably — in a way that is unable to be stopped (11 letters)
- Unthinkably — it means that something cannot be accepted as a possibility (11 letters)
Longest Suffixes in English
- –-ization — it creates a noun that denotes the act, process or result of an action (9 letters)
- –-iveness — it shows a quality or tendency (9 letters)
- –-fullness — it creates a noun that denotes the quality of being full or complete (9 letters)
Longest Prefixes in English
- Inter- — meaning between, among (5 letters)
- Trans- — meaning across or beyond (5 letters)
- Hyper- — means excessively, beyond normal (5 letters)
- Super- — meaning above, beyond (5 letters)
- Ultra- — meaning extremely, beyond normal (5 letters)
- Mega- — means very large, huge (5 letters)
Longest Verbs in English
- Counterdemonstrate — to demonstrate in opposition to another demonstration (14 letters)
- Decontaminate — to remove dangerous substances from something (12 letters)
- Disenfranchise — to deprive someone of a right or privilege, especially of the right to vote (12 letters)
- Disseminate — to spread widely or to scatter (11 letters)
- Encapsulate — to enclose something in a capsule (11 letters)
- Excommunicate — to expel from a church or other religious organization (12 letters)
- Extrapolate — to infer from known facts or data (11 letters)
- Hypothesize — to form a hypothesis or conjecture (11 letters)
- Interrogate — to question formally or search thoroughly (11 letters)
- Reincorporate — to incorporate again or anew (13 letters)
How to Learn the Longest Words in English
Firstly: Break each word down into manageable parts
While long English words can seem complex, breaking them down into parts will make learning them easier!
Each of the words we discuss in this article, we will show you the important elements including prefixes, suffixes and roots. Let’s define the parts of a word and what they represent.
- Root word: the base form of a word
- Prefix: an element attached to the beginning of a root word that alters its meaning
- Suffix: an element attached to the end of a root word that alters its meaning
Secondly: Use vocabulary memory tricks
-
Put the words and word parts onto flashcards.
Flashcards are a perfect way to study and memorize long words. The language learning program FluentU allows you to make your own multimedia flashcards which are connected to a curated library of authentic videos—including news reports, inspiring talks and music videos. - Keep a running list. Track word components in a notebook. Any time you encounter a new prefix, suffix or root word, write it down in your list. This will help you keep track of the word parts you learn. You can refer to this list as you try to learn other long and complex words.
But most importantly, try to have fun with these words. Be patient and you will start pronouncing them in no time!
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Ready to take your Scrabble skills to the next level? This list of the longest words in the English language could score you major points on your next game — if you can remember how to spell them.
Some of the words that qualify for the title take hours to pronounce, like the 189,819-letter word for the protein Titin. Additionally, many of the longest words are medical terms, so we have excluded some of them to allow for more variety. The end result is a list of fascinatingly lengthy words that will make your vocabulary downright sesquipedalian.
Antidisestablishmentarianism
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England
Origins: While the word originated in 19th century Britain, it is now used to refer to any opposition to a government withdrawing support from a religious organization. Though rarely used in casual conversation, the word was featured in the Duke Ellington song, “You’re Just an Old Antidisestablishmentarianist.”
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: the act of defining or estimating something as worthless
Origins: This word stems from the combination of four Latin words, all of which signify that something has little value: flocci, nauci, nihili, pilifi. This style of word creation was popular in Britain in the 1700s.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: an invented word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling a fine dust
Origins: This word emerged in the late 1930s, and was said to be invented by Everett K. Smith, president of the National Puzzlers’ League, in an imitation of very long medical terms. It is not found in real medical usage.
Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: an inherited disorder similar to pseudohypoparathyroidism
Origins: This genetic disorder causes “short stature, round face and short hand bones,” according to the National Institutes of Health. Despite having a similar name, it is not the same as pseudohypoparathyroidism.
Psychoneuroendocrinological
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: of or related to to the branch of science concerned with the relationships between psychology, the nervous system, and the endocrine system
Origins: This term was first seen in the 1970s in Journal of Neurological Science, a medical journal.
Sesquipedalian
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: having many syllables or characterized by the use of long words
Origins: The Roman poet Horace used this term to caution young poets against relying on words that used a large number of letters. It was adopted in the 17th century by poets to ridicule their peers who used lengthy words.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: fear of long words
Fun Fact: This word is most often used in humorous contexts. It is an extension of the word sesquipedalophobia, which has the same meaning and is more often used in a formal context.
Incomprehensibilities
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: things that are impossible to understand or comprehend
Fun Fact: In the 1990s, this word was named the longest word in common usage.
Uncopyrightable
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: not able or allowed to be protected by copyright
Fun Fact: This word is one of the longest isograms (a word that does not repeat letters) in the English language.
Dermatoglyphics
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: the scientific study of hands, including fingerprints, lines, mounts, and shapes
Fun Fact: Unlike palmistry, this study is based in science and is often used in criminology as a way to identify both perpetrators and victims.
Euouae
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a type of cadence in medieval music
Fun Fact: While this word might not look as impressive as others on this list, it’s the longest word in the English language to be composed entirely of vowels. (It’s also the word with the longest string of vowels.)
Psychophysicotherapeutics
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a therapeutic approach that integrates both the mind and body
Fun Fact: While the Oxford Dictionary does not provide an official definition of this word, it is included on their list of the longest words in the English language.
Otorhinolaryngological
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: of or relating to the medical specialization involving the ear, nose, and throat
Fun Fact: This medical specialization is more commonly known by its acronym, ENT.
Last Updated: Dec 30, 2019
How many words exactly are in the English language? The second edition of the current 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains 171,476 words in current use. That’s a lot! Which gets the mind thinking the next question, what’s the longest word in current use today?
Many of the longest words in the dictionary refer to medicine or chemistry. You’ll find a few defined in here along with other long words that you may or may not already use. Here’s how Merriam-Webster defines the ten longest words in the English language.
1. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters)
Pneumoconiosis caused by inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust.
2. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (36 letters)
Ironically, Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest work in the dictionary and is the name for a fear of long words! Who would have thought, right?
3. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (34 letters)
Perhaps the best word of all! Made popular by the film Mary Poppins, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is something to say when you have nothing to say.
4. Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters)
A relatively mild form of pseudohypoparathyroidism that is characterized by normal levels of calcium and phosphorus in the blood.
5. Floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters)
The longest unchallenged nontechnical word that not all directories recognize, that including Merriam-Webster. According to alternative sources, floccinaucinihilipilification is the act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant, of having no value or being worthless. Often times, it is used in a humorous way.
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6. Antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters)
A term referring to a political movement in 19th century Britain that sought to separate church and state. In this case, political movement wanted to disestablish the Church of England as the official state church of England, Ireland and Wales.
7. Honorificabilitudinitatibus (27 letters)
The longest word in Shakespeare’s works. Honorificabilitudinitatibus is the longest word in the English language featuring alternating consonants and vowels.
8. Thyroparathyroidectomized (25 letters)
A medical term that defines the excision of both the thyroid and parathyroid glands.
9. Dichlorodifluoromethane (23 letters)
A chlorofluoromethane CF2Cl2.
10. Incomprehensibilities (21 letters)
Impossible to comprehend. In the 1990’s, incomprehensibilities set the record as the longest word “in common usage.”
LONGEST ENGLISH WORD:Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl…isoleucine (189,819 letters)
If we’re talking chemistry, the longest chemical name is 189,819 letters long. It is the chemical name for titin, a giant filamentous protein essential to the structure, development, and elasticity of muscle. As to whether or not this is an actual word is disputed by many. It is not in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, so you shouldn’t ever have to worry about spelling it. ?
It should come as no surprise that we are word lovers. In fact, we are big word lovers in that we love really big words. To express our love, we looked around for some of the biggest, most ludicrously long words in the English language. In addition to pure length, we also tried to find:
- the longest word without vowels
- the longest one-syllable word
- and other uniquely long words.
Figuring out which word is the longest of them all isn’t as simple as just counting letters, though. Should you count scientific words? Should obscure, rarely used words be included, or should we give the honor to a word people actually use? In the interest of fairness, our list includes scientific words, obscure words, and all of the absurdly long words stuck in between.
methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl…
At over 180,000 letters long, the chemical name of the protein titin is often said to technically be the longest English word. If spoken out loud, this word takes over three hours to say! Its absurd length is due to the fact that proteins get their scientific names by combining the names of all of their joined amino acids together, and titin has quite a lot of them. For obvious reasons, titin’s official name has never actually appeared in a dictionary or scientific text. Because it is a scientific term, many would disqualify the Big M from actually taking the crown as English’s longest word.
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, coming in at 45 letters long, is typically the biggest word you will find that actually appears in an English dictionary. According to many sources, it was coined around 1935 by Everett Smith, who at the time was the president of the National Puzzlers’ League. The word, which was basically engineered for its length, refers to a lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust.
sesquipedalianism
Let’s look at a word related to the business of “longest words.” Sesquipedalianism is the tendency to use long words. Do you have sesquipedalian tendencies? (We do.)
The word is traced to the ancient Roman poet Horace, who in a treatise on the art of poetry wrote that in certain circumstances, poets must avoid sesquipedalia verba, a Latin phrase meaning “words [verba] a foot and a half long [sesquipedalia].” Horace clearly had a sense of humor.
pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
We include pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism, another medical term, because this is one of the longest words to appear in major dictionaries that wasn’t created with length in mind. Pseudo- is a combining form meaning “false, pretended, unreal.”
You might notice the appearance of pseudo- twice. That’s because this disorder simulates the symptoms of pseudohypoparathyroidism, in which the body doesn’t respond to the parathyroid hormone. So, there are two levels of “faking it” going on here.
English isn’t the only language with lengthy elements of its lexicon. Get to know some of the world’s longest words!
antidisestablishmentarianism
Often, people will bust out antidisestablishmentarianism as the longest word they know and are actually able to say. This word has rarely been used and is only mentioned due to its ridiculous length. This word refers to opposition to withdrawing support from the Anglican Church as the state church of 19th-century England.
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Even though the sound if it is something quite atrocious, we do really like the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. This nonsensical word with no real meaning was popularized by the 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins and is often used by children as an example of a humorously long word. Songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman take credit for this exact spelling of the word, but the word itself existed even before Mary Poppins made it popular.
floccinaucinihilipilification
Here’s one that is also very meta: floccinaucinihilipilification is a rarely used word that means “the estimation of something as valueless.” It is usually used in reference to itself! Dating back to the 1700s, the word contains four Latin roots that all mean “of little value” or “trifling”: floccī, naucī, nihilī, and pilī.
honorificabilitudinitatibus
The word honorificabilitudinitatibus, which is said to mean “capable of receiving honor,” has two major honors to its name. Firstly, it is the longest word to ever appear in the works of William Shakespeare. Billy the Bard only ever used it once, in his play Love’s Labour’s Lost (1590s). Secondly, honorificabilitudinitatibus is the longest English word wherein the consonants and vowels alternate back and forth. Check it again if you didn’t notice!
uncharacteristically
Uncharacteristically for most of the really long words you’ve seen so far, the word uncharacteristically is often said to be the longest word that the average English speaker will commonly see or actually use in everyday life. As you may already know, uncharacteristically is an adverb that describes something as not being typical or acting in a characteristic manner.
incomprehensibilities
At 21 characters, another one of the longest words you might actually use yourself is incomprehensibilities. We define incomprehensible as “impossible to comprehend or understand,” so incomprehensibilities are “things you can’t comprehend.” ¿Comprendes?
uncopyrightables
If you look closely at the spelling, you’ll notice a peculiar thing about this word with 16 letters. It does not repeat any letter; each character is used only once. This word is sometimes called an isogram among lovers of words and word games.
One of the longest isograms is subdermatoglyphic, at 17 characters. But, since subdermatoglyphic (dermatoglyphics studies the patterns of skin markings on the hands and feet) is a bit scientific and certainly not one that is used often, we’re spotlighting uncopyrightables instead because it’s one we can all remember. It means, of course, “items that are unable to be copyrighted.”
rhythms
The word rhythms may not look like much at only seven letters long, but it is said to be the longest English word without one of the five main vowels in it. The letter Y, that wishy-washy “sometimes vowel,” is filling in while A, E, I, O, and U are taking a break. As we all know, the word rhythms means “movements or procedures with uniform or patterned recurrence of a beat, accent, or the like.”
Are there really words without vowels? Depending on the definition, the answer might elicit a hmm.
strengths
Strengths is another smaller word with a big achievement under its belt. It is the longest English word with only a single vowel in it. Considering it is only eight letters long, that really shows you how much we value our vowels. The plural strengths is most often used to mean “positive or valuable attributes or qualities.”
squirrelled
We go nuts for this word. While the word squirreled usually only has one L in American English, some dictionaries accept this British English version as an alternate spelling. Some Americans pronounce the word squirrelled as a one-syllable word (rhyming with “curled”). This makes squirrelled the longest one-syllable word in the English language at 11 letters. If all of that sounds too squirrely for you, the one-syllable verb broughammed from the noun brougham, a type of carriage, is also 11 letters long.
As an aside, some may tell you that the word schtroumpfed is actually the longest “English” word with only a single syllable. This word has been used in some translations of The Smurfs (which is Les Schtroumpfs in French) in place of the more commonly used nonsensical verb smurfed. In our opinion, claiming schtroumpfed is the longest one-syllable word is just a bunch of smurf.
Aegilops
Aegilops sounds like the name of a mythical monster, but it is actually the name of a genus of wild grasses commonly known as goatgrass. In addition to that, Aegilops is also commonly said to be the longest English word that has all of the letters in alphabetical order.
Indulge your inner sesquipedalian and take the quiz!
Think you’re ready to ace our longest English words quiz? Or is it a long shot? It won’t be long before you find out. Remember that a little practice goes a long way!