English
Alternative forms
- hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (common misspelling, perhaps on purpose, to make the word even longer)
Etymology
From hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian, an extension of sesquipedalian with ad hoc combining forms of monstrum (“monster”) and hippopotamus (intended to exaggerate the length of the word itself and the idea of the size of the words being feared), + -phobia.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌhɪ.pəˌpɒ.tə(ʊ)ˈmɒn.stɹə(ʊ)ˌsɛs.kwɪ.pɪˌdɑːl.ɪ.ə(ʊ)ˈfəʊ.bɪ.ə/
- Rhymes: -əʊbiə
- Hyphenation: hip‧po‧po‧to‧mon‧stro‧ses‧qui‧pe‧dal‧i‧o‧pho‧bi‧a
Noun
hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (uncountable)
- (humorous) The fear of long words.
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Ben suffers from hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia so he seldom uses words of more than three syllables.
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2002 April 19, anonymous, The Scotsman, page 13:
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However, we assume that despite the best endeavours of science, some phobias will always remain. These include paraskavedekatriaphobia, or fear of Friday the 13th. And hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, which is fear of long words.
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2002 December 14, Chris Lloyd, The Northern Echo, page 10:
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Those who find this column troubling are suffering from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia— the fear of long words. Or, more likely, rupophobia — a fear of rubbish.
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2005 September 30, D. Harlan Wilson, Pseudo-City, Raw Dog Screaming Press, →ISBN, page 183:
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Coincidentally there is a masochistic PCP with hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (fear of long words) curled up in an alleyway across the street. He has been whispering “Antidisestablishmentarianism” to himself over and over for two days now, experiencing up to one orgasm every three hours as a result of The Pain […]
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Usage notes
- It is unlikely that this 15-syllable contrivance is ever used purely for its meaning. The term sesquipedalophobia is recognized in formal writing.
Synonyms
- sesquipedalophobia
- hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian
- sesquipedalian
Translations
You are here: Home / Phobias / Fear of Long Words Phobia – Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Fears and phobias are very real and the human mind is capable of developing them towards virtually anything or any situation. The fear of long words phobia or Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is often considered a jocular or fictional phobia; however, that is not the case and long words phobia is actually very real and does exist.
People suffering from Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia tend to experience a great deal of anxiety when faced with long words. It is indeed ironical that the scientific name given to this phobia is such a long one. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia can actually be broken down into several parts: Hippo- is ‘horse’ in Greek and potam-os is river. Thus the first part of the word refers to a water horse also otherwise known as Hippopotamus. The Oxford Dictionary uses the word: Hippopotamine to refer to “something very large”. The word “monstr” is the Latin origin of a ‘monstrous being’ or something that is huge or terrifying and sesquippedalio is derived from Latin sesquippedali meaning ‘measuring a foot and a half long’. Phobos stands for morbid fear.
Most specific phobias, including the fear of long words phobia, are caused by an event that is recorded by parts of the brain (namely the amygdala and hippocampus) as dangerous or deadly. The body then reacts as if the same event is bound to happen repeatedly. A person with severe Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is literally held a prisoner by his feelings of anxiety and panic he experiences at the thought or sight of long words.
No one is born with this phobia. Most people have simply learned it from an unpleasant episode. In fact; many individuals do not even remember how the fear started.
School going children (or in some cases, working adults) might have experienced being laughed at or having been embarrassed (or found themselves shaking, trembling etc) when reading/pronouncing long words. The mind then continues to create the same response without any basis. For a person suffering from Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, the mind develops negative images, bad movie-like stills at the thought or sight of long words.
Symptoms of Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Each individual is different and so are his/her symptoms of Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
Typically, the symptoms of long words phobia can be characterized as mental, emotional or physical. Many individuals feel extremely anxious or have a full blown panic attack at the sight or thought of long words.
Physical symptoms include shaking, crying, running away, trembling, feeling nauseated, experiencing headaches, rapid or accelerated heartbeat and shallow breathing etc.
The person is likely to feel dread and terror; his mind creates very bad pictures such as embarrassing oneself, passing out etc when faced with long words.
Often the patient understands that his fear is irrational and unsupported; however, he is unable to control himself and is powerless to rationalize.
Treating and overcoming the fear of long words phobia
The good news is that Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia can be overcome. Drugs and medicines must be the last resort as these simply mask the symptoms of anxiety experienced due to the phobia. The solution to overcoming the fear of long words is to mainly recall and evaluate the factors that have led to the phobia in the first place.
Therapists can also help evaluate these factors to come up with a treatment plan. The individual is then encouraged to expose self to long words gradually: beginning with just seeing the word, then progressing to thinking about long words and finally saying them. Such gradual exposure helps lessen the panic until the individual is completely comfortable and can face long words confidently.
Using self help methods like deep breathing, relaxing and meditating etc are also recommended while dealing with this phobia. Talk therapy, cognitive behavior therapy and behavior therapy are some other important and effective therapies for treating Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
Sesquipedalophobia or Longphobia is the fear of long or complicated words. Ironically, the original word naming the phobia may trigger it. There are people who suffer from the phobia. However, the phobia is not recognized by most doctors. The causes of the phobia are unknown but might stem from difficulties to learn reading back at school, or certain brain patterns. It might be associated to a more worrisome mental illness. Most of the long words can be found in the medical and chemical vocabulary or large numbers, such as a certain acid, something else, another thing and another thing. The longest English word, which has 189,819 letters and takes more than 3 hours to be fully pronounced, is a chemical name. For these reasons, people suffering from this phobia should avoid becoming doctors or chemists.
This is why I want to die, there is way too many Bambi fantracks named after phobias.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest words in the dictionary — and, in an ironic twist, is the name for a fear of long words. Sesquipedalophobia is another term for the phobia.
Is Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia the longest word in the world?
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, a 36 character word supposedly meaning a fear of long words, is not officially known as the longest word in the English language despite its great length. … At a length of 30 characters, it is the longest non-coined word to appear in any major English dictionary.
What word takes 3 hours to say?
METHIONYLTHREONYLTHREONYGLUTAMINYLARGINYL …
All told, the full chemical name for the human protein titin is 189,819 letters, and takes about three-and-a-half hours to pronounce.
How many words is Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia?
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (36 letters)
Why is the fear of long words called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia?
The word “monstr” is the Latin origin of a ‘monstrous being’ or something that is huge or terrifying and sesquippedalio is derived from Latin sesquippedali meaning ‘measuring a foot and a half long’. … Phobos stands for morbid fear.
What is the shortest word?
Eunoia, at six letters long, is the shortest word in the English language that contains all five main vowels. Seven letter words with this property include adoulie, douleia, eucosia, eulogia, eunomia, eutopia, miaoued, moineau, sequoia, and suoidea. (The scientific name iouea is a genus of Cretaceous fossil sponges.)
Here are 10 uncommon but very real phobias you probably never knew existed.
- PANOPHOBIA. It can be difficult dealing with just one phobia but imagine being afraid of everything. …
- PHOBOPHOBIA. …
- SOMNIPHOBIA. …
- NOMOPHOBIA. …
- SESQUIPEDALOPHOBIA. …
- DEIPNOPHOBIA. …
- GENUPHOBIA. …
- SCRIPTOPHOBIA.
25 сент. 2017 г.
What is titin full name?
So what’s the word? Wikipedia’s says that it’s “Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl … isoleucine” (ellipses necessary), which is the “chemical name of titin, the largest known protein.” Also, there’s some dispute about whether this is really a word.
What is the hardest word to say?
The Most Difficult English Word To Pronounce
- Rural.
- Otorhinolaryngologist.
- Colonel.
- Penguin.
- Sixth.
- Isthmus.
- Anemone.
- Squirrel.
26 окт. 2018 г.
What is the world’s largest word?
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Appearing in the Oxford English Dictionary, this 45-letter word for a disease is the longest English word that is defined in a major dictionary. It’s a technical word referring to the lung disease more commonly known as silicosis.
Is the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious a real word?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word as “a nonsense word, originally used esp. by children, and typically expressing excited approbation: fantastic, fabulous”, while Dictionary.com says it is “used as a nonsense word by children to express approval or to represent the longest word in English.”
What is Kakorrhaphiophobia?
: abnormal fear of failure.
How many letters are in Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis?
1 Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (forty-five letters) is lung disease caused by the inhalation of silica or quartz dust.
What is the #1 phobia?
Overall, fear of public speaking is America’s biggest phobia – 25.3 percent say they fear speaking in front of a crowd. Clowns (7.6 percent feared) are officially scarier than ghosts (7.3 percent), but zombies are scarier than both (8.9 percent).
What does Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia mean?
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest words in the dictionary — and, in an ironic twist, is the name for a fear of long words. Sesquipedalophobia is another term for the phobia. … the fear or anxiety is disproportionate to the social situation.
What is fear of falling in love called?
Philophobia is an overwhelming and unreasonable fear of falling in love, beyond just a typical apprehensiveness about it. The phobia is so intense that it interferes with your life.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
Did you read the word completely or you just read it like hippozhzhshshzhshshzhsh…
I did this too!
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the longest word of the dictionary. The word includes 36 letters. And, you will be surprised to know that it actually means the fear of long words.
Earlier it was said that there is nothing like the fear of long words and this phobia is fictional. But later, the American Psychiatric Association said that the phobia of long words is real and actually exists.
There are many people in the world who are suffering from Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. It is said that whenever they see a long word, they tend to feel anxious or scared. To cope with this, they might skip reading the word which makes them feel panicky.
Strangely Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is also known as Sesquipedalophobia which is another long word.
Before knowing more about the longest word of the dictionary – Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, learn how to pronounce the word in this video.
Origin of the Word Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia can be divided into several parts to know its etymology.
According to the oxford dictionary, Hippopotamine is used to refer to “something very large or big”.
The other word is ‘monstr’ is a Latin word which means, “monstrous being or something that is huge and scary”.
‘Sesquippedalio’ is also a Latin word, Sesquippedali which means ‘measuring a foot and a half long’.
And lastly, Phobia, a Greek word which is originally derived from Phobos, meaning fear or horror.
Symptoms of Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
The fear of long words usually makes the person feel embarrassed about their inability to pronounce the word. Apart from this, the person starts trembling and feels afraid of being mocked or punished.
So here I will tell you other symptoms of Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia:
- Accelerated heartbeat
- Sweating
- Fainting
- Dizziness
- Breathing uneasily
- Headache
- Avoid reading long words
- Stress
Causes of Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
There is no absolute cause for Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia: the fear of long words. No one is actually born with this kind of fear rather it is something that people learn from a nasty episode.
It may cause because of certain events which are recorded as dangerous or deadly by some parts of the brain. The body reacts to the words as if the same event is about to happen and they have to face everything all over again.
The mind creates negative images on the sight of long words or even on the thought of it and the body responses in fear to those negative images.
Treatment of Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
The phobia of long words can be cured with the help of therapists or for the worst case drugs and medicines can also be used. But usually, it is treated by therapies only.
The treatment can be started once the therapists examine the root cause of the Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. He/she should evaluate the factors of the event that led to the phobia.
The main solution is by slowly exposing the patient to the long words. Maybe make them see the words first, then make them think about it and gradually make them speak the long word.
This process will eventually help the patient to overcome their phobia and feel less panicky. It will free the patients from the fear and anxiety of long words.
Final Words
In the end, I would just like to say that if you did not feel panicked not even for a single time while reading the word Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, then you are not in the radar of this disorder.
But, if you felt something wrong then you need to read the article more thoroughly ask for some help.