Word meaning long words

For the long time, lexicographers have been debating about the legitimacy of certain words as possible entrants to the English dictionary. For me, the longer the word and the more the number of syllables in it, the more interesting it becomes. Find out some of the most exquisitely coined words in the English language from this article.

Longest word

Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl […] isoleucine
Here’s the deal: the world’s longest English word has exactly 189,819 letters in it and it takes 3 hours and 33 minutes to pronounce it completely!

Wondering what commands such an enormous (literally) honor? Well, it is the chemical name of the world’s largest known protein called titin or connectin. It is made up of 244 individually folded protein domains which in turn are connected by unstructured peptide sequences (largest known polypeptide containing 34,350 amino acids in the human body). Fascinating as the name of this wonder is, there exists some debate as to whether this technical term can actually be considered a word. But even then, mesmerizing it is, isn’t it? And guess what? Here in this article, you will actually get to see this ginormous word if you read on.

But even otherwise, the English language is a huge storehouse of long words that I find rather satisfying to pronounce. They are grand tongue twisters that make perfect sense. Two of my favorite words for the longest time have been inconsequential and quintessentially. I am psychologically satiated to the hilt every time I utter them and utter them a lot I do. But there are other words that are very rarely used and even more rarely heard of. Let’s check some of them out below. If you love the language and lap up trivia like there’s no tomorrow, this is a train ride you should definitely not miss.

A

1. Ablutophobia: Fear of washing or having a bath
2. Absorbefacient: Inducing or boosting absorption
3. Adiathermancy: Impervious to radiant heat or infrared radiation or unaffected by heat waves
4. Agglutination: The construction of words from component morphemes that retain their form and meaning in spite of the blending
5. Arachibutyrophobia: One having fear about peanut butter sticking to the mouth roof
6. Aurantiaceous: Appertaining to oranges or orange trees
7. Automatonophobia: One having fear about dummies, animatronic creatures, statues of wax
8. Autothaumaturgist: A person who exudes an air of mystery around himself consciously; someone pretending to be an enigma
9. Autotonsorialist: A person who cuts his own hair
10. Automysophobia: Fear of getting dirty

B

1. Ballistocardiograph: An instrument which is used to detect body movements caused by heartbeats
2. Bathythermograph: An instrument that is used for recording water temperature as compared to depth
3. Batrachomyomachy: A military engagement between frogs and mice
4. Batrachophagous: A person who eats frogs
5. Bicrescentic: Having the structure of a double crescent
6. Blandiloquence: A flattery or complimentary speech
7. Brachydactylous: Having abnormally short and blunt fingers and toes
8. Brobdingnagian: Colossal
9. Bouleversement: An overturning; ruination
10. Boustrophedon: An ancient method of writing in which one line is written from left to right and the next from right to left and so on.

C

1. Cacodemomania: Pathological belief of one being inhabited by an evil spirit
2. Caesaropapism: Secular ruler having control of the church
3. Catapedamania: Obsession with jumping from high places
4. Cephalonomancy: A kind of divination formerly practiced to detect guilt in a convict by boiling the skull of an ass and checking for any cracking of the skull or movement of the lower jaw
5. Ceruminiferous: Carrying or yielding earwax
6. Chaetophorous: Setigerous or bristle-bearing
7. Cheiloproclitic: One who is attracted to lips
8. Cholangiocholecystocholedochectomy: Process of surgically removing the hepatic duct and gallbladder
9. Chronosynchronicity: Presenting a person’s life in all the stages through a single piece of art
10. Cycloganoidei: Ganoid fish with cycloid scales

D

1. Dactylopterous: A state where the inferior rays of the pectoral fins are entirely or partially detached from the body
2. Defecaloesiophobia: Fear of painful defecation
3. Dendrochronology: Study of tree rings
4. Deorsumversion: Turning downwards
5. Dermatoglyphics: Study of fingerprints and skin patterns
6. Dermatopathophobia: Fear of dermal ailments
7. Didaskaleinophobia: Fear of going to school
8. Dishabiliophobia: Fear of undressing in front of another person
9. Dolichocephalic: Long-headed
10. Dysmorphophobia: Having the fear of physical deformities

E

1. Ecclesiasticus: An Apocryphal book
2. Edriophthalmous: Concerning the Edriophthalma
3. Electroencephalograph: An instrument for measuring the brain’s electrical impulses
4. Electrodynamometer: An instrument for measuring electric current
5. Eleutherophobia: Fear of freedom
6. Epiphenomenalism: Doctrine that mental processes are epiphenomena of brain activity
7. Ephemeromorph: Form of life that is neither animal nor plant
8. Epistaxiophobia: Fear of epistaxises or bleeding noses
9. Ethnomethodology: The study of sociological codes and conventions that underlie everyday social communication and interactions
10. Extemporaneousness: Lack of foresight

F

1. Febrifacient: That which renders feverish
2. Ferriprussiate: A ferricyanate; a ferricyanide
3. Flagelliferous: Bearing a whip or flagellum
4. Flibbertigibbet: Gossipy person, usually referring to a young woman
5. Fibriophobia: Having fear of fever
6. Fibrochondrosteal: Partly fibrous, partly cartilaginous, and partly bony or osseous
7. Fissigemmation: A process of reproduction that intercedes fission and gemmation
8. Forisfamiliation: The act of liberating oneself from parental authority
9. Frankalmoigne: Tenure by free alms
10. Frumentaceous: Resembling wheat or other grain

G

1. Galactodensimeter: Instrument used to measure the density of milk
2. Gastroduodenitis: Swelling of the stomach and duodenum
3. Gastrohysterotomy: Cæsarean section
4. Generalissimo: The Chief Commander of an army
5. Gephydrophobia: Fear of crossing bridges
6. Germanophilia: Love or fondness for Germany or for the Germans
7. Gluconeogenesis: Production of glucose from non-carbohydrates
8. Graminivorous: Feeding on grass or cereals
9. Grammaticaster: A piddling grammarian
10. Gynotikolobomassophile: One nibbling a woman’s earlobes

H

1. Haematogenesis: Production of blood
2. Haematodynamometer: An instrument to measure arterial or venous blood pressure
3. Haussmannize: To rebuild
4. Hellenologophobia: Fear of Greek terms or complex scientific nomenclature
5. Helioseismology: Study of wave oscillations in the sun
6. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia: Fear of the number six hundred sixty-six
7. Honorificabilitudinitatibus: One bearing honorableness
8. Honorificabilitudinity: Honorableness
9. Hydrometeorology: Study of atmospheric moisture
10. Hypercatalectic: Having an extra syllable at the end of a verse

I

1. Iatromathematics: Archaic practice of medicine in conjunction with astrology
2. Ichthyophagous: Fish-eating
3. Ichthyophthalmite: A hydrous silicate of calcium and potassium relating to zeolites
4. Immarcescible: Not perishable
5. Immunopathology: Study of immunity to disease
6. Incircumscriptible: Incapable of being restricted
7. Incomprehensibleness: Impossible to know or fathom
8. Interramification: Intertwining of branches
9. Interstratification: Alternative layering of two or more types of clay minerals
10. Ithyphallophobia: Fear of aroused male genitalia

J

1. Jaculiferous: Bearing arrow-like thorns
2. Japanophilia: Love or admiration for Japan or the Japanese
3. Japanophobia: Fear of Japanese
4. Johannisberger: A fine white wine produced on the estate of Schloss Johannisberg, on the river Rhine
5. Jouissance: Merriment
6. Judeophobia: Fear of Jewish people
7. Juglandaceous: Liking or pertaining to walnuts
8. Jungermanniaceae: A genus of hepatic mosses
9. Jurisprudential: Pertaining to the science of juridical law
10. Juxtaposition: The act of positioning two or more things adjacent to each other

K

1. Kakorrhaphiophobia: Fear of failure
2. Katagelophobia: Fear of ridicule
3. Katathermometer: Instrument used to measure the cooling power of air
4. Katsaridaphobia: Fear of cockroaches
5. Kephalonomancy: Divination using a baked head of an ass or a goat
6. Keraunophobia (or Ceraunophobia): Fear of lightning and thunder
7. Kinetheodolite: Type of theodolite used to track missiles and satellites
8. Knickerbockers: Loose breeches ending above the knee
9. Knickknackatory: A collection of baubles and trifles
10. Kosmikophobia: Fear of cosmic phenomenon

L

1. Lamellibranchiata: Class of gastropods with bivalve shells
2. Laryngotracheotomy: Surgery involving cutting into the larynx and the upper part of the trachea
3. Latitudinarianism: Doctrine of broad liberality in religious belief or conduct
4. Lautenclavicymbel: Lute harpsichord with gut strings instead of metal
5. Lautverschiebung: The regular alterations undergone by the primitive Indo-European stops or mute consonants in the Teutonic languages since third century BC
6. Lepidopterology: Study about butterflies and moths
7. Leucocytogenesis: Formation of leukocytes
8. Lexicographical: Pertaining to the art of making a dictionary or lexicon
9. Libanophorous: Producing incense
10. Logizomechanophobia: Fear of computers

M

1. Machiavellianism: The doctrines of Niccolò Machiavelli as written in his book Il Principe (“The Prince”) wherein political expediency is exalted above morality and the use of cunning and deceit in statecraft to maintain authority or to effectuate policy is commended
2. Macrocephalous: Having a large head
3. Margaritomancy: Divination using pearls
4. Maschalephidrosis: Excessive sweating of the armpits
5. Mechanotherapist: A practitioner who medically treats by employing mechanical practices, such as massaging
6. Medomalacuphobia: Fear of losing an erection
7. Metathesiophobia: Fear of changes
8. Microminiaturization: Construction of something on a scale which is smaller than miniature
9. Micropalaeontology: Study of microscopic fossils
10. Monopathophobia: Fear of definite disease

N

1. Necessitarianism: Philosophical theory according to which actions are always consequent to antecedent causes
2. Nemathelminthes: Roundworms
3. Neopharmaphobia: Fear of new drugs
4. Nephelodometer: An instrument for estimating the distances or speed of clouds
5. Neurophysiological: Pertaining to the branch of physiology that deals with the functions of the nervous system
6. Nigroglobulate: The act of excluding someone by a negative vote or veto
7. Noctambulation: Sleepwalking
8. Nucamentaceous: Resembling a nut either structurally or their property of indehiscence; bearing one-seeded nut-like fruits
9. Nucleomituphobia: Fear of nuclear weapons
10. Nyctohylophobia: Fear of dark wooded areas at night

O

1. Obeliscolychny: Lighthouse
2. Obsequiousness: Abject submissiveness
3. Omphalopsychite: One who meditates by stares fixedly at his navel
4. Oneirogmophobia: Fear of wet dreams
5. Ophthalmophobia: Fear of being stared at
6. Ophthalmoscope: Instrument for viewing the interior of the eye
7. Opisthobranchiata: Marine gastropod mollusks with no operculum and gills present posterior to the heart
8. Orphanotrophism: Care and support of orphans
9. Ostraconophobia: Fear of shellfish
10. Otorhinolaryngology: It is a study of ear, nose, and throat

P

1. Palaeoanthropology: The study of early humans
2. Paleophytologist: One versed in the recovery and identification of plant fossils from geological contexts
3. Paraskavedekatriaphobia: Fear of Friday the 13th
4. Penecontemporaneous: Of geological processes occurring immediately after deposition
5. Philoprogenitiveness: The love of offspring
6. Pleuroperipneumony: Inflammation of the pleura and lungs
7. Pneumatophilosophy: Philosophy of spirits or the spirit world
8. Podobromhidrosis: Smelly feet
9. Pseudoantidisestablishmentarianism: Falsely supporting the idea of disestablishment
10. Pteromerhanophobia: Fear of flying

Q

1. Quadragesimarian: One who observes Lent
2. Quadrigeminous: Four-fold
3. Quadrigenarious: Four hundred
4. Quasquicentennial: One hundred twenty-fifth anniversary
5. Quatrefeuille: An ornamental foliation having four foils
6. Quindecemvirate: The body or office of the fifteen sacerdotal college men bestowed with the primary duty of protecting the Sibylline books
7. Quinquagenarian: Person between the ages of 50 and 59
8. Quinquedentated: Five-toothed
9. Quoddamodotative: Existing in a certain manner
10. Quomodocunquize: Making money in any possible way

R

1. Radappertization: Treatment of food with ionizing radiation to kill bacteria
2. Radiometeorograph: An instrument for measuring atmospheric conditions at high altitude
3. Rambunctiousness: The state of being boisterous and disorderly
4. Ranidaphobia: Fear of frogs
5. Representationalism: Doctrine that ideas rather than external objects are basis of knowledge
6. Retrovaccination: The inoculation of a cow with human vaccination in which smallpox virus from human vesicles is used as seed virus in producing smallpox vaccine in cattle
7. Rhabdophobia: Fear of being severely punished or beaten by a rod, or of being severely criticized
8. Rhinotillexomania: Compulsive nose picking
9. Rodomontadist: A person who boasts
10. Roentgenometrics: A chiropractic technique involving the study of X-rays by biomechanical analysis and measurement

S

1. Sacramentarianism: Belief that sacraments have unusual properties
2. Scrophulariaceous: Pertaining to the figwort family of plants (Scrophulariaceae)
3. Secundogeniture: The right of inheritance belonging to the second-oldest child
4. Sesquicentennially: Every 150 years
5. Siderodromophobia: Fear of trains, railroads or train travel
6. Spasmenagaliaphobia: Fear of shattered glass
7. Spermatophobia: The fear of germs
8. Spectroheliokinematograph: Camera for taking pictures of the sun
9. Sphygmomanometer: An instrument for measuring arterial blood pressure
10. Steganophthalmata: A division of jellyfishes, including most of the large disklike species

T

1. Trinitrophenylmethylnitramine: A type of explosive
2. Tetrakishexahedron: A solid in the isometric system, bounded by 24 congruent isosceles-triangular faces, four corresponding to each face of the cube
3. Thanatognomonic: Indicating death
4. Theologicophobia: Fear of theology
5. Theophilanthropism: Having love for divinity as well as mankind
6. Thermoluminescence: A form of luminescence that is exhibited by certain crystalline materials that may have absorbed energy previously
7. Transmogrification: Transformation to a different form or shape, especially strange or grotesque
8. Trichopathophobia: Fear of hair
9. Triskaidekaphobia: Phobia of the number 13
10. Triboluminescence: Frictional emission of light

U

1. Ubiquitarianism: Belief in the omnipresence of God
2. Ultramicroscope: Instrument for viewing objects that are difficult to see by the naked eye
3. Ultimogeniture: The right of inheritance belonging to the last son
4. Umbraculiform: Umbrella-shaped
5. Uncircumstandtial: Not circumstantial; trivial
6. Uncompartmentalized: Not separated into different categories or compartments
7. Unconsentaneous: Disagreement
8. Uniformitarianism: The theory or assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the universe now, have operated since its inception and apply everywhere in the universe and that all geological phenomena may be explained as the result of these existing forces
9. Unsoutcheoned: Destitute of an escutcheon
10. Utilitarianism: Adopting a code of conduct that determines ethical values

V

1. Valetudinarianism: The condition or state of mind of a sickly or weak person who is incessantly worried about personal health
2. Vasoconstriction: Narrowing of the blood vessels owing to the contraction of their muscular walls
3. Venturesomeness: Daring and adventurous
4. Venustraphobia: Being scared of beautiful women
5. Verminophobia: Being afraid of germs
6. Vernacularization: The act, process, or state of picking elements from a foreign language and modifying and accepting it as a part of a native dialect of a specific population
7. Virginitiphobia: Fear of rape
8. Vitricophobic: One who fears his step-father
9. Volumenometer: Instrument that determines volume of a solid
10. Voicespondence: Correspondence by means of formerly recorded conversations

W

1. Walloonphobia: Fear of Walloons (French-speaking Belgian community)
2. Wawaskeesh: An American elk
3. welterweight: A combat sports weight class division
4. Weatherometer: Instrument for measuring weather-resisting properties of paint
5. Weatherstripping: Material to seal the openings such as doors, trunks, windows to exclude the cold, wind, and rain
6. Weltanschauungen: One’s individual or a group’s outlook towards life
7. Whereinsoever: In whatever matter, respect, place, or action
8. Whippersnappers: People considered insignificant and pretentious
9. Whippoorwill: Night-jar from America
10. Whithersoever: Wherever

X

1. Xanthocyanopsy: Kind of color-blindness in which one can see only blue and yellow colors
2. Xanthomelanous: Pertaining to races with black hair and yellow or olive complexion
3. Xanthophobia: Fearful towards yellow color
4. Xanthospermous: Containing yellow seeds
5. Xenodocheionology: Liking for hotels and inns
6. Xenoglossophobia: Fear of foreign languages
7. Xerophthalmia: Dry eye syndrome
8. Xeroradiography: Kind of X-ray wherein the picture is taken on a paper and not on a film
9. Xiphophyllous: Sword-shaped leaved
10. Xylopyrographist: A poker painter

Y

1. Yachtsmanship: Adeptness in sailing a yacht
2. Yarborough: Hand of cards where no card is above nine
3. Yarnwindle: Tool used for winding the yarn
4. Yellowhammer: A passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae
5. Yellowshanks: American shorebirds of the sandpiper family
6. Yellowthroats: A New World warblers in the genus Geothlypis
7. Yeomanette: Old term for a woman serving in the American naval reserve during World War II
8. Yezdegerdian: Pertaining to Yezdegerd, the last Sassanian monarch of Persia, overthrown by the Muslims
9. Yogibogeybox: Things used by a spiritualist
10. Yttriferous: One that contains yttrium

Z

1. Zemmiphobia: Being afraid of the great mole rat
2. Zalambdodont: Having molar teeth with V-shaped ridges
3. Zarathustrianism: Zoroastrianism
4. Zeusophobia: Being scared of divine beings
5. Zigzaggery: Contortion
6. Zoanthodeme: Collective zooids of compound anthozoa
7. Zooarchaeology: Studying the remnants of animals on archaeological sites
8. Zoosporangium: A spore
9. Zeugmatography: A term previously proposed for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
10. Zeugobranchiata: A division of marine mollusks with gills on both sides of the body and paired renal organs

Now, here are some other fun words that are bound to wriggle those gray cells optimally. Most of them aren’t a part of any lexicon yet, but that doesn’t make them any less mesmerizing.

Here are the top 5 names of places on the globe with the longest names.

Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukakapiki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­kitanatahu (85 letters) – A hill in New Zealand, the name of which stands for: “The summit of the hill, where Tamatea, who is known as the land eater, slid down, climbed up and swallowed mountains, played on his nose flute to his loved one”.

Gorsafawddachaidraigodanheddogleddolonpenrhynareurdraethceredigion (66 letters) – A town in Wales, the name of which means: “The Mawddach station and its dragon teeth at the Northern Penrhyn Road on the golden beach of Cardigan bay”.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (58 letters) – A northern Welsh town the name of which means: “The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio’s of the red cave”.

Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (41 letters) – A lake in Massachusetts.

Nunathloogagamiutbingoi (23 letters) – The name of certain Alaskan dunes.

And here are two mind-boggling scientific terms for your pleasure.

Methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylphenylalanylalanylglutaminylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamylglycylalanylphenylalanylvalylprolylphenylalanylvalylthreonylleucylglycylaspartylprolylglycylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylserylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucylglutamylalanylglycylalanylaspartylalanylleucylglutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylphenylalanylserylaspartylprolylleucylalanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonylisoleucylglutaminylasparaginylalanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanylglycylvalylthreonylprolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanylglutamylmethionylleucylalanylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolylthreonylisoleucylprolylisoleucylglycylleucylleucylmethionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylvalylphenylalanylasparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalanyltyrosylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycylvalylaspartylserylvalylleucylvalylalanylaspartylvalylprolylvalylglutaminylglutamylserylalanylprolylphenylalanylarginylglutaminylalanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylalanylprolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartylalanylaspartylaspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryltyrosylglycylarginylglycyltyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylserylarginylalanylglycylvalylthreonylglycylalanylglutamylasparaginylarginylalanylalanylleucylprolylleucylasparaginylhistidylleucylvalylalanyllysylleucyllysylglutamyltyrosylasparaginylalanylalanylprolylprolylleucylglutaminylglycylphenylalanylglycylisoleucylserylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminylvalyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalanylglycylalanylalanylglycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalyllysylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamylprolylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenylalanylvalylglutaminylprolylmethionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylarginylserine – At 1,913 characters, this is the full name of tryptophan synthetase – a protein which consists of 267 amino acids.

Acetylseryltyrosylserylisoleucylthreonylserylprolylserylglutaminylphenylalanylvalylphenylalanylleucylserylserylvalyltryptophylalanylaspartylprolylisoleucylglutamylleucylleucylasparaginylvalylcysteinylthreonylserylserylleucylglycylasparaginylglutaminylphenylalanylglutaminylthreonylglutaminylglutaminylalanylarginylthreonylthreonylglutaminylvalylglutaminylglutaminylphenylalanylserylglutaminylvalyltryptophyllysylprolylphenylalanylprolylglutaminylserylthreonylvalylarginylphenylalanylprolylglycylaspartylvalyltyrosyllysylvalyltyrosylarginyltyrosylasparaginylalanylvalylleucylaspartylprolylleucylisoleucylthreonylalanylleucylleucylglycylthreonylphenylalanylaspartylthreonylarginylasparaginylarginylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylvalylglutamylasparaginylglutaminylglutaminylserylprolylthreonylthreonylalanylglutamylthreonylleucylaspartylalanylthreonylarginylarginylvalylaspartylaspartylalanylthreonylvalylalanylisoleucylarginylserylalanylasparaginylisoleucylasparaginylleucylvalylasparaginylglutamylleucylvalylarginylglycylthreonylglycylleucyltyrosylasparaginylglutaminylasparaginylthreonylphenylalanylglutamylserylmethionylserylglycylleucylvalyltryptophylthreonylserylalanylprolylalanylserine – With 1,185 letters, this is the chemical name of the Coat Protein, Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV), Dahlemense Strain and was first published in American Chemical Society’s “Chemical Abstracts Service”.

And now for the monarch of all words – 189,819 characters long!

Chemical Name of Titin

Whew!! Wasn’t that some real heavy stuff! Well that’s it for now. Guess you too are short of breath after reading the long list. Hope you had fun reading them though!

The longest word in any given language depends on the word formation rules of each specific language, and on the types of words allowed for consideration.

Agglutinative languages allow for the creation of long words via compounding. Words consisting of hundreds, or even thousands of characters have been coined. Even non-agglutinative languages may allow word formation of theoretically limitless length in certain contexts. An example common to many languages is the term for a very remote ancestor, «great-great-…..-grandfather», where the prefix «great-» may be repeated any number of times. The examples of «longest words» within the «Agglutinative languages» section may be nowhere near close to the longest possible word in said language, but is instead a popular example of a text-heavy word.

Systematic names of chemical compounds can run to hundreds of thousands of characters in length. The rules of creation of such names are commonly defined by international bodies, therefore they formally belong to many languages. The longest recognized systematic name is for the protein titin, at 189,819 letters.^[1] While lexicographers regard generic names of chemical compounds as verbal formulae rather than words,^[2] for its sheer length the systematic name for titin is often included in longest-word lists.

Longest word candidates may be judged by their acceptance in major dictionaries such as the Oxford English Dictionary or in record-keeping publications like Guinness World Records, and by the frequency of their use in ordinary language.

Agglutinative languages[edit]

Basque[edit]

The longest Basque toponym is Azpilicuetagaraicosaroyarenberecolarrea (40) which means «The lower field of the sheepfold (located in) the hight of Azpilicueta».^[3]

Esperanto[edit]

Since Esperanto allows word compounding, there are no limits on how long a word can theoretically become. An example is the 39-letter oranĝ-kanton-pafil-limig-aktivul-malamanto, meaning «Orange County gun control activist hater». Such clusters are not considered good style (the 8-word alternative oranĝkantona malamanto de aktivuloj por limigo de pafiloj is more standard), but they are permissible under the rules of Esperanto grammar.^[4] Hyphens are optional in Esperanto compounds,^[5] so oranĝkantonpafillimigaktivulmalamanto is also technically a valid spelling.

The longest Esperanto roots officially recognized by the Akademio de Esperanto are 13 letters long, shown here with the added substantive «-o» ending:

• administracio (administration),
• aŭtobiografio (autobiography),
• diskriminacio (discrimination),
• konservatorio (conservatory),
• paleontologio (palaeontology),
• paralelogramo (parallelogram), and
• trigonometrio (trigonometry).^[6]

The longest word found in the dictionary Plena Ilustrita Vortaro as of its 2020 edition is the 24-letter proper noun Meklenburgio-Antaŭpomerio (the German state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), followed by the 21-letter word proviantadministracio (rations administration).

As of March 2022 the longest word found in the Tekstaro de Esperanto text corpus is the 66-letter word unue-volapukista-poste-esperantista-poste-idista-poste-denove-esperantista, meaning «first-volapukist-then-esperantist-then-idist-then-again-esperantist», which was used in a review published in Monato in 1997 to describe František Lorenz.^[7] However, this word does not follow normal Esperanto word formation rules. Other long words found in Tekstaro de Esperanto that do follow regular word formation include:

• sescent-kvindek-mil-kvadratkilometra (consisting of 650 000 square kilometers), 33 letters, used in an Esperanto version of an 2011 article by Marc Lavergne in Le Monde diplomatique,
• tragedio-komedio-historio-pastoraloj (tragical-comical-historical-pastorals), 33 letters, used in L. L. Zamenhof’s translation of Hamlet,
• Nord-Atlantik-Traktad-Organizo (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), 27 letters, more commonly translated with two words: Nord-Atlantika Traktat-Organiz(aĵ)o.

Estonian[edit]

• Sünnipäevanädalalõpupeopärastlõunaväsimatus meaning «untiredness of a birthday week graduation party» which is 46 letters.^{[citation needed]}
• 31 lettered word of uusaastaöövastuvõtuhommikuidüll meaning «morning idyll after the new year».^[8]
• There is also the 25 letter long word of põllumajandusministeerium which is «Ministry of Agriculture».^{[citation needed]}
• The word kuulilennuteetunneliluuk meaning «the hatch a bullet flies out of when exiting a tunnel» is 24 letters long and a palindrome. It could be one of the longest palindromes.^{[citation needed]}

Finnish[edit]

Examples of long words that have been in everyday use in the Finnish language are kolmivaihekilowattituntimittari which means «three-phase kilowatt hour meter» (31 letters), liikekannallepanotarkastuskierros («mobilization inspection round», 33 letters),^[9] peruspalveluliikelaitoskuntayhtymä («a public utility of a municipal federation for provision of basic services», 34 letters),^[10] and lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas «airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student» (61 letters), an actual military term, although one which has been deprecated. The longest military term in current use is vastatykistömaalinosoitustutkakalustojärjestelmäinsinöörierikoisupseeri «counter-artillery targeting radar systems engineer specialist officer» with 71 characters, with 2 more if grammatically incorrect extra hyphens added for readability are counted.^{[citation needed]} If conjugated forms are allowed, even longer real words can be made. Allowing derivatives and clitics allows the already lengthy word to grow even longer, although the usability of the word starts to degrade. Because Finnish uses free forming of composite words, new words can even be formed during a conversation. One can add nouns after each other without breaking grammar rules.

If one allows artificial constructs as well as using clitics and conjugated forms, one can create even longer words: such as kumarreksituteskenteleentuvaisehkollaismaisekkuudellisennesk-
enteluttelemattomammuuksissansakaankopahan (102 letters), which was created by Artturi Kannisto.^[11]

The longest non-compound (a single stem with prefixes and suffixes) Finnish word recognised by the Guinness Book of Records is epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydellänsäkäänköhänkään (see also Agglutination#Extremes), based on the stem järki (reason, sanity), and it means: «I wonder if – even with his/her quality of not having been made unsystematized».

Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä and a defunct bar named after it, Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsi-baari, are the longest place names in use.

Hungarian[edit]

Eltöredezettségmentesítőtleníttethetetlenségtelenítőtlenkedhetnétek, with 67 letters is the longest word in the Hungarian language and approximately means «you could defragmentation defragmenting impenetrability defragmentation». It is already morphed, since Hungarian is an agglutinative language.

The Hungarian language has many causes for writing words together, but there are a few rules for avoiding undisciplined length, resulting in unreadability.

Words with less than six syllables can be written in one. Agglutinated words have to be separated by one dash, if they are more than six syllables altogether. If there are more than two words that are already written with a dash and we want to add some more, we have to use a new dash to add it (like C-vitamin-adagolás, meaning «Vitamin C rationing»). If there would be two long words to be written, they are advised to be used separately (possible: békeszerződéstervezet-kidolgozás meaning «peace agreement plan elaboration», but advised rather a békeszerződés tervezetének kidolgozása meaning «the elaboration of the plan of the peace agreement»).
^[12]

The longest dictionary form word is the word megszentségtelenített, with 21 characters (although it ultimately derives from the word szent meaning: «saint» or «sacred»), and it means «desecrated» or «profaned».^[13]

Korean[edit]

There is some disagreement about what is the longest word in the Korean language, which arises from misunderstanding of the Korean language.

The longest word appearing in the Standard Korean Dictionary published by the National Institute of the Korean Language is 청자 양인각 연당초상감 모란 문은구 대접 (靑瓷陽印刻蓮唐草象嵌牡丹文銀釦대접); Revised Romanization: cheongjayang-in-gakyeondangchosang-gammoranmuneun-gudaejeop, which is a kind of ceramic bowl from the Goryeo dynasty; that word is 17 syllable blocks long, and contains a total of 46 hangul letters.^[14][15] However, to call this a word would be incorrect. It simply consists of many words which act as adjectives for the one word 대접.

The word 니코틴아마이드 아데닌 다이뉴클레오타이드 (nikotin-amaideu adenin dainyukeulle-otaideu), a phonetic transcription of «nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide», has a larger number of syllable blocks (19) but a smaller number of letters (41), but does not qualify as a single word due to the spaces.

In proper nouns, many Korean monarchs have overly long posthumous names built from many different Sino-Korean nouns describing their positive characteristics, for example Sunjo of Joseon, whose full posthumous name is the 77-syllable-block 순조 선각 연덕현도 경인순희 체성응명흠광석경계천배극융원돈휴의행소윤희화준렬대중지정 홍훈철 모건시태형창 운홍기고명박후강건수정계통수력 공유범문안무정영경 성효대왕 (sunjoseongag-yeondeoghyeondogyeong-insunhuicheseong-eungmyeongheumgwangseoggyeong-gyecheonbaegeug-yung-wondonhyuuihaengsoyunhuihwa-junlyeoldaejungjijeonghonghuncheolmogeonsitaehy-eongchang-unhong-gigomyeongbaghugang-geonsujeong-gyetongsulyeoggong-yubeommun-anmujeong-yeong-gyeongseonghyodaewang).^{[citation needed]} This is simply writing the phrase in Hanja (Hanzi) 純祖先覺淵德顯道景仁純禧體聖凝命欽光錫慶繼天配極隆元敦休懿行昭倫熙化峻烈大中至正洪勳哲謨乾始泰亨昌運弘基高明博厚剛健粹精啓統垂曆建功裕範文安武靖英敬成孝肅皇帝, being transliterate in Hangul. It is not a single word and does not qualify as a lexical entry.

Mongolian[edit]

A popular example of the longest suffixed word in Mongolian is «Цахилгаанжуулалтыхантайгаа» (tsakhilgaanjuulaltykhantaigaa) which is 26 letters long. Here is a table showing, with translations, which suffixes are added.^{[citation needed]}

Word	Translation
Цахилгаан	electricity (power)
Цахилгаанжуул	electrify
Цахилгаанжуулалт	electrification
Цахилгаанжуулалтын	electrifications
Цахилгаанжуулалтыхан	electricians
Цахилгаанжуулалтыхантай	with electricians
Цахилгаанжуулалтыхантайгаа	do (action) with electricians

Ojibwe[edit]

The longest word in the Ojibwe language is miinibaashkiminasiganibiitoosijiganibadagwiingweshiganibakwezhigan (66 letters), meaning «blueberry pie». This literally translates to «blueberry cooked to jellied preserve that lies in layers in which the face is covered in bread».^[16]

Tagalog[edit]

Tagalog can make long words by adding on affixes, suffixes, and other root words with a connector.

The longest published word in the language is pinakanakakapagngitngitngitngitang-pagsisinungasinungalingan, with 59 letters. This compound word means «to keep making up a lie that causes the most extreme anger while pretending you are not.»^[17]

Turkish[edit]

Turkish, as an agglutinative language, carries the potential for words of arbitrary length.

Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine, at 70 letters, has been cited as the longest Turkish word. It was used in a contrived story designed to use this word.^[18][19] The word means «As if you would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones» and its usage was illustrated as follows:

Kötü amaçların güdüldüğü bir öğretmen okulundayız. Yetiştirilen öğretmenlere öğrencileri nasıl muvaffakiyetsizleştirecekleri öğretiliyor. Yani öğretmenler birer muvaffakiyetsizleştirici olarak yetiştiriliyorlar. Fakat öğretmenlerden biri muvaffakiyetsizleştirici olmayı, yani muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştirilmeyi reddediyor, bu konuda ileri geri konuşuyor. Bütün öğretmenleri kolayca muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriverebileceğini sanan okul müdürü bu duruma sinirleniyor, ve söz konusu öğretmeni makamına çağırıp ona diyor ki: Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine laflar ediyormuşsunuz ha?
We are in a teachers’ training school that has evil purposes. The teachers who are being educated in that school are being taught how to make unsuccessful ones from students. So, one by one, teachers are being educated as makers of unsuccessful ones. However, one of those teachers refuses to be maker of unsuccessful ones, in other words, to be made a maker of unsuccessful ones; he talks about and criticizes the school’s stand on the issue. The headmaster who thinks every teacher can be made easily/quickly into a maker of unsuccessful ones gets angry. He invites the teacher to his room and says «You are talking as if you were one of those we can not easily/quickly turn into a maker of unsuccessful ones, huh?»

Other well-known very long Turkish words are:^[20]

• Çekoslovakyalılaştıramadıklarımızdanmışsınızcasına means «As if you are one of those people whom we could not turn into a Czechoslovakian».
• Afyonkarahisarlılaştırabildiklerimizdenmişsinizcesine means «As if you are one of the people that we made resemble from Afyonkarahisar». (Afyonkarahisar is a city in Turkey.)

Word formation[edit]

Turkish	English
Muvaffak	Successful
Muvaffakiyet	Success
Muvaffakiyetsiz	Unsuccessful (‘without success’)
Muvaffakiyetsizleş(-mek)	(To) become unsuccessful
Muvaffakiyetsizleştir(-mek)	(To) make one unsuccessful
Muvaffakiyetsizleştirici	Maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileş(-mek)	(To) become a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştir(-mek)	(To) make one a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriver(-)	(To) easily/quickly make one a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriverebil(-mek)	(To) be able to make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebil(-mek)	To be able to not make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebilecek	One who is not able to make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebilecekler	Those who are not able to make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimiz	Those whom we cannot make easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizden	From those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmiş	(Would be) from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsiniz	You would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine	As if you would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones

Non-agglutinative languages[edit]

Afrikaans[edit]

Afrikaans, as it is a daughter language of the Dutch language, is capable of forming compounds of potentially limitless length in the same way as in the Dutch language. According to the Total Book of South African Records, the longest word in the language is^[21]
Tweedehandse­motor­verkoops­manne­vakbond­stakings­vergadering­sameroepers­toespraak­skrywers­pers­verklaring­uitreikings­media­konferensie­aankondiging (136 letters), which means «issuable media conference’s announcement at a press release regarding the convener’s speech at a secondhand car dealership union’s strike meeting». This word, however, is contrived to be long and does not occur in everyday speech or writing.

Arabic[edit]

Currently, the longest word in Arabic is the 15-letter-long word أَفَإِستَسقَينَاكُمُوها.^[22] Which means «Did we ask you to let us drink it?» However, according to some online sources the 16-letter-long word أَفَإِستَسقَينَاكُمُوهما is the longest word in Arabic meaning «Did we ask you to let us drink both of them?». Regardless, official sources supporting such a stance cannot be found.

Bulgarian[edit]

The Bulgarian online etymological dictionary claims that longest word in Bulgarian to be the 39-letter-long непротивоконституционствувателствувайте (neprotivokonstitutsionstvuvatelstvuvayte), introduced in the Constitution of Bulgaria of 1947 (Dimitrov Constitution).^[23] The word means «do not perform actions against the constitution» (addressed to more than one person).

Catalan[edit]

The longest word in Catalan is considered to be Anticonstitucionalment, an adverb meaning «[done in a way that is] against the constitution», however, the scientific word Psiconeuroimmunoendocrinologia, related to endocrinology, has been proposed by the University of Barcelona to be the true longest word.^[24]

Croatian[edit]

The longest known word in Croatian is prijestolonasljednikovičičinima,^[25] meaning «to those who belong to the throne successor’s little wife.» The 31-letter word is the dative case of prijestolonasljednikovičica «the throne successor’s little wife» which is the diminutive of prijestolonasljednikovica «the throne successor’s wife.»

Czech[edit]

Traditionally, the word nejneobhospodařovávatelnější («of the least cultivable», 28 letters) is considered as the longest Czech word, but there are some longer artificial words. Most of them are compound adjectives in dative, instrumental or other grammatical case and derived from the iterative or frequentative verbal form or the ability adjective form (like «-able»).

• Nejnezdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnějšími (47; Instrumental case of the ones least multipliable by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis)
• Nejnezdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější (Those who are the least multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
• Nejzdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější (Those who are the most multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
• Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější (Those who are more multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
• Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelní (Those who are multiplable by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis)
• Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávat (Alternative of «multiply out by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis»)
• Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovat (Multiply out by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis — continuous grammatical aspect)
• Zdevětadevadesáteroznásobovat (Multiply by ninety-nine on a regular basis – continuous grammatical aspect)
• Zdevětadevadesáteroznásobit (Multiply by a group of ninety-nine once)
• Zdevětadevadesáteronásobit (Multiply by a group of ninety-nine)
• Devětadevadesátero (A group of ninety-nine)
• Devětadevadesát (Inverse of devadesát devět = ninety-nine)

Danish[edit]

Danish, like many Germanic languages, is capable of compounding words to create ad hoc compounds of potentially limitless length. Nevertheless, the constructed word special­læge­praksis­planlægnings­stabiliserings­periode – which means «a period of stabilising the planning of a specialist doctor’s practice» – was cited in 1993 by the Danish version of the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest word in the Danish language at 51 letters long. It is however not possible (using Google) to find a text, which actually uses this word, except for in the context of discussing the longest Danish word.

Dutch[edit]

Dutch, like many Germanic languages, is capable of forming compounds of potentially limitless length. The 53-letter word Kinder­carnavals­optocht­voorbereidings­werkzaamheden­plan, meaning «preparation activities plan for a children’s carnival procession», was cited by the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records as the longest Dutch word.^[26]

The longest word in the authoritative Van Dale Dutch dictionary (2009 edition) in plural form is meervoudige­persoonlijkheids­stoornissen;^[27] 38 letters long, meaning «multiple personality disorders». The entry in the dictionary however is in the singular, counting 35 letters.

The free OpenTaal dictionary,^[28] which has been certified by the Dutch Language Union (the official Dutch language institute) and is included in many open-source applications, contains the following longest words, which are 40 letters long:

• vervoerders­aansprakelijkheids­verzekering, «carriers’ liability insurance»;
• bestuurders­aansprakelijkheids­verzekering, «drivers’ liability insurance»;
• overeenstemmings­beoordelings­procedures, «conformity assessment procedures» (38 letters)

The word often said to be the longest in Dutch – probably because of its funny meaning and alliteration – which has also appeared in print, is Hottentotten­soldaten­tenten­tentoonstellings­bouwterrein («construction ground for the Hottentot soldiers’ tents exhibition»); counting 53 letters.

English[edit]

The 45-letter word pneumono­ultra­microscopic­silico­volcano­coni­osis is the longest English word that appears in a major dictionary.^[29][30] Originally coined to become a candidate for the longest word in English, the term eventually developed some independent use in medicine.^[31] It is referred to as «P45» by researchers.^[32]

The 30-letter word pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism refers to an inherited disorder,^[33] named for its similarity to pseudohypoparathyroidism in presentation, which is in turn named for its similarity to hypoparathyroidism. This is the longest word that was not contrived with the sole intention of becoming the longest word.^[34]

Flocci­nauci­nihili­pili­fication, at 29 letters and meaning the act of estimating something as being worth so little as to be practically valueless, or the habit of doing so, is the longest non-technical, coined word in Oxford Dictionaries of the English language.^[29]

Anti­dis­establishment­arian­ism, at 28 letters, is the longest non-coined, non-systematic English word in Oxford Dictionaries.^[29] It refers to a 19th-century political movement that opposed the disestablishment of the Church of England as the state church of England.

French[edit]

German[edit]

In German, whole numbers (smaller than 1 million) can be expressed as single words, which makes sieben­hundert­sieben­und­siebzig­tausend­sieben­hundert­sieben­und­siebzig (777,777) a 65 letter word. In combination with -malig or, as an inflected noun, (des …) -maligen, all numbers can be written as one word. A 79 letter word, Donau­dampf­schiffahrts­elektrizitäten­haupt­betriebs­werk­bau­unter­beamten­gesellschaft, was named the longest published word in the German language by the 1972 Guinness Book of World Records, but longer words are possible. The word was the name of a prewar Viennese club for subordinate officials of the headquarters of the electrical division of the company named the Donau­dampf­schiffahrts­gesellschaft, «Danube steam boat operation company».

The longest word that is not created artificially as a longest-word record seems to be Rindfleisch­etikettierungs­überwachungs­aufgaben­übertragungs­gesetz at 63 letters. The word means «law delegating beef label monitoring» but as of 2013, it was removed from the books because European Union regulations have changed and that particular law became obsolete, leading to news reports that Germany «had lost its longest word».^[35]

In December 2016 the 51-letter word Bundes­präsidenten­stichwahl­wiederholungs­verschiebung («deferral of the second iteration of the federal presidential run-off election») was elected the Austrian Word of the Year 2016.^[36] The jury called it a «descriptive word» which «in terms of its content as well as its length, is a symbol and an ironic form of commentary for the political events of this year, characterized by the very long campaign for the presidential election, the challenges of the voting process, and its reiteration.»^[36][37]

Greek[edit]

In his comedy Assemblywomen (c. 392 BC), Aristophanes coined the 182-letter word λοπαδο­τεμαχο­σελαχο­γαλεο­κρανιο­λειψανο­δριμ­υπο­τριμματο­σιλφιο­καραβο­μελιτο­κατακεχυ­μενο­κιχλ­επι­κοσσυφο­φαττο­περιστερ­αλεκτρυον­οπτο­κεφαλλιο­κιγκλο­πελειο­λαγῳο­σιραιο­βαφη­τραγανο­πτερύγων (Lopado­temacho­selacho­galeo­kranio­leipsano­drim­hypo­trimmato­silphio­karabo­melito­katakechy­meno­kichl­epi­kossypho­phatto­perister­alektryon­opte­kephallio­kigklo­peleio­lagoio­siraio­baphe­tragano­pterygon), a fictional food dish consisting of a combination of fish and other meat. The word is cited as the longest ancient Greek word ever written.^[38]
A modern Greek word of 22 letters is ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογράφημα (ilektroenkefalográfima) (gen. ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογραφήματος (ilektroenkefalografímatos), 25 letters) meaning «electroencephalogram».

Hebrew[edit]

The longest Hebrew word is the 19-letter-long (including vowels) וכשלאנציקלופדיותינו (u’chshelentsiklopediotenu),^[39] which means «And when to our encyclopedias…» The Hebrew word אנציקלופדיה (encyclopedia) is of a European origin.

The longest word in Hebrew that doesn’t originate from another language is וכשלהתמרמרויותינו, (u’chshelehitmarmeruyotenu) which crudely means «And when, to our resentments/ grievances»

The 11-letter-long (including vowels) וְהָאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנִים (veha’aḥashdarpením) is the longest word to appear in the Hebrew Bible. — Its meaning is «And the satraps». It also does not originate from Hebrew.^{[citation needed]}

Other very long Hebrew words include:

• וכשבהשתעשעויותיהם (u’chshebehishta’ashuateyhem) meaning: «And when they were having fun» or «And while in their playfulness».

Hindi[edit]

Hindi has a finite list of compound words which are based on established grammatical rules of the language. The word commonly cited as the longest in Hindi is लौहपथगामिनीसूचकदर्शकहरितताम्रलौहपट्टिका (lauhpathagāminīsūchakdarshkaharitatāmralauhpaṭṭikā), which consists of 24 consonants and 10 vowel diacritics, making up a total of 34 characters. The word literally means «a green railway warning signboard made of copper-iron». Its plural would be लौहपथगामिनीसूचकदर्शकहरितताम्रलौहपट्टिकाएँ (lauhpathagāminīsūchakdarshkaharitatāmralauhpaṭṭikāẽ), which has an additional vowel and a diacritic. It is a neologism and not in common use.^[40]

A much smaller word borrowed from Sanskrit which is in common use and is also often cited as the longest word is किंकर्तव्यविमूढ़ (kinkartavyavimūṛh). It consists of 8 consonants and 5 vowel diacritics, making up a total of 13 characters. The word literally means «confused about what to do», meaning to be bewildered or flabbergasted.

Icelandic[edit]

Icelandic has the ability to form compounds of arbitrary length by stringing together genitives (eignarfallssamsetning), so no single words of maximal length exist in the language. However, vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúr and vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúraútidyralyklakippuhringur are sometimes cited as particularly long words;^[41] the latter has 64 letters and means «a keychain ring for the outdoor key of road workers shed in a moor called Vaðlaheiði».

Analysis of a corpus of contemporary Icelandic texts by Uwe Quasthoff, Sabine Fiedler and Erla Hallsteinsdóttir identified Alþjóðaflutningaverkamannasambandsins («of the International Transport Workers’ Federation»; 37 letters) and Norðvestur-Atlantshafsfiskveiðistofnunarinnar («of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries’ Organization»; 45 letters) as the longest unhyphenated and hyphenated words.^[42]

The longest word occurring at least twice in the University of Leipzig isl-is_web_2015 corpus is Auðmannastjórnvaldaembættisstjórnmálaverkalýðsverðlausraverðbréfaábyrgðarlausrakvóta-ræningjaaftaníossaspilling (110 letters).^[43]

Indonesian[edit]

Indonesian is a part of Austronesian language. According from Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. The longest word of this language is mempertanggungjawabkan, which is 22 letter meaning «take responsibility» in english and heksakosioiheksekontaheksafobia, 30 letter meaning «hexacosioihexecontahexaphobia» in english.^[44]

Irish[edit]

The longest non-compound word in Irish is grianghrafadóireacht, a 20-letter-long word meaning «photography».^[45]

Italian[edit]

The longest word in Italian is traditionally precipitevolissimevolmente, which is a 26-letter-long adverb.^[46] It is formed by subsequent addition of postfixes to the original root:

1. precipitevole: «hasty»;
2. precipitevolissimo: «very hasty»;
3. precipitevolissimevole: «[of someone/something] that acts very hastily», (not grammatically correct^{[citation needed]});
4. precipitevolissimevolmente: «in a way like someone/something that acts very hastily» (not grammatically correct, but nowadays part of the language).

The word is never used in every-day language, but in jokes. Nevertheless, it is an official part of Italian language; it was coined in 1677 by poet Francesco Moneti:

perché alla terra alfin torna repente / precipitevolissimevolmente

— Francesco Moneti, Cortona Convertita, canto III, LXV

The word technically violates Italian grammar rules, the correct form being precipitevolissimamente, which is three letters and one syllable shorter. The poet coined the new word to have 11 syllables in the second verse.

Other words can be created with a similar (and grammatically correct) mechanism starting from a longer root, winding up with a longer word. Some examples are:

• sovramagnificentissimamente (cited by Dante Alighieri in De vulgari eloquentia), 27 letters, «in a way that is more than magnificent by far» (archaic);^[47]
• incontrovertibilissimamente, 27 letters, «in a way that is very difficult to falsify»;
• particolareggiatissimamente, 27 letters, «in an extremely detailed way»;
• anticostituzionalissimamente, 28 letters, «in a way that strongly violates the constitution».

The longest accepted neologism is psiconeuroendocrinoimmunologia (30 letters).^{[citation needed]}.

Other long words are:

• nonilfenossipolietilenossietonolo (33 letters — chemical)
• pentagonododecaedrotetraedrico (30 letters — 3D geometric figure)
• esofagodermatodigiunoplastica (29 letters — surgery)
• elettroencefalograficamente (27 letters — medical adverb: electroencephalographically)
• diclorodifeniltricloroetano (27 letters — chemical: DDT)

Láadan[edit]

Láadan is not agglutinating as there is no mechanism to combine arbitrary words into one without intermediating grammatical mechanisms (such as the relativizer § In other languages); however, there are a number of affixes that further elucidate the contextual meaning of a word. These are ignored when determining the longest words in the language. The primary reference for vocabulary is the 3rd edition of the official dictionary and grammar.

• oshetham éelenethilethu, 22 letters not counting the space, or 17 phonemes (since for example ée is a toneme of e, and th is a separate sound from *t or *h separately—the asterisks indicate that neither sound exists in Láadan) — a set phrase for a wreath of grapevine, a common symbol of the language^[48]
• shineshidethóo, 14 letters or 10 phonemes — an invited guest^[49]

Latin[edit]

The longest attested word in Classical Latin is subductisupercilicarptor, which was coined by the obscure poet Laevius in the 1st century. In Medieval Latin, the longest known word is honorificabilitudinitas, which was first attested in a treatise written by the 8th century Grammarian Peter of Pisa. One can further increase the length of the words by adding the Dative plural case to them, which would result in the words subductisupercilicarptoribus and honorificabilitudinitatibus respectively.^{[citation needed]}

Lithuanian[edit]

The longest Lithuanian word is 40 letters long:

• nebeprisikiškiakopūstlapiaujančiuosiuose — «in those, of masculine gender, who aren’t gathering enough wood sorrel’s leaves by themselves anymore.» — the plural locative case of past iterative active participle of verb kiškiakopūstlapiauti meaning «to pick wood-sorrels’ leaves» (leaves of edible forest plant with sour taste, word by word translation «rabbit cabbage»). The word is attributed to software developer / writer Andrius Stašauskas.^{[50][unreliable source?][51][unreliable source?]}

Māori[edit]

The Māori-language 85-letter place name Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukaka­piki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu is the longest place name in English-speaking countries and second longest in the world, according to Wises New Zealand Guide and The New Zealand Herald.^[52]

Polish[edit]

Very long Polish words can be created as adjectives from numerals and nouns. For example, Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięcionarodowościowego, 54 letters, is the genitive singular form of an adjective meaning roughly «of nine-hundred and ninety-nine nationalities». Similar words are rather artificial compounds, constructed within allowed grammar rules, but are seldom used in spoken language, although they are not nonsense words.^{[citation needed]} It is possible to make even longer words in this way, for example:

Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćmiliardówdziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćmilionów-dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćtysięcydziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięcioletniego (176 letters, meaning «of 999,999,999,999 years old»).

One of the longest common words is 31-letter dziewięćdziesięciokilkuletniemu – the dative singular form of «ninety-and-some years old one». Another known long word is konstantynopolitańczykowianeczka^{[citation needed]} (32 letters), «a daughter of a man who lives in Constantinople» and pięćdziesięciogroszówka (23 letters), «a 50 groszy coin».^[53]

Romanian[edit]

The longest Romanian word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcaniconioză, with 44 letters,^[54] but the longest one admitted by the Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române («Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language», DEX) is electroglotospectrografie, with 25 letters.^[55][56]

Russian[edit]

Most likely one of the longest Russian words is a chemical term, тетра­гидро­пиранил­цикло­пентил­тетра­гидро­пиридо­пириди­новая (tetra­gidro­piranil­ciklo­pentil­tetra­gidro­pirido­piridi­novaya), which contains 55 letters. It was used in Russian patent RU2285004C2 (granted and published in 2006). This word is an adjective that can describe e.g. a chemical formula. As a noun, it is without the last 4 letters.

Another one is превысоко­много­рассмотрительствующий (prevysoko­mnogo­rassmotritel’stvuyushchiy), which contains 35 letters. It is an adjective in the bureaucratic language of the 19th century «meaning a very polite form of addressing clerks, something like Your Excellency, Your Highness, Your Majesty all together» (Guinness World Records 2003^{[citation needed]}). Its dative singular form, превысоко­много­рассмотрительствующему (prevysoko­mnogo­rassmotritel’stvuyushchemu, with 36 letters) can be an example of excessively official vocabulary of the 19th century.

Numeral compounds can be long as well, such as Тысячево­сьмисот­восьми­десяти­девяти­микро­метровый (Tysyachevo­s’misot­vos’mi­desyati­devyati­mikro­metrovyy), which is an adjective containing 46 letters, meaning «1889-micrometers long».^[57]

Sanskrit[edit]

Sanskrit allows word compounding of arbitrary length. Nouns and verbs can be expressed in a sentence.^{[citation needed]}

The longest sentence ever used in Sanskrit literature is (in Devanagari):

निरन्तरान्धकारितदिगन्तरकन्दलदमन्दसुधारसबिन्दुसान्द्रतरघनाघनवृन्द-सन्देहकरस्यन्दमानमकरन्दबिन्दुबन्धुरतरमाकन्दतरुकुलतल्पकल्पमृ-दुलसिकताजालजटिलमूलतलमरुवकमिलदलघुलघुलयकलितरमणीय-पानीयशालिकाबालिकाकरारविन्दगलन्तिकागलदेलालवङ्गपाटलघनसा-रकस्तूरिकातिसौरभमेदुरलघुतरमधुरशीतलतरसलिलधारानिराकरिष्णुत-दीयविमलविलोचनमयूखरेखापसारितपिपासायासपथिकलोकान्

In IAST transliteration:

nirantarāndhakārita-digantara-kandaladamanda-sudhārasa-bindu-sāndratara-ghanāghana-vṛnda-sandehakara-syandamāna-makaranda-bindu-bandhuratara-mākanda-taru-kula-talpa-kalpa-mṛdula-sikatā-jāla-jaṭila-mūla-tala-maruvaka-miladalaghu-laghu-laya-kalita-ramaṇīya-pānīya-śālikā-bālikā-karāra-vinda-galantikā-galadelā-lavaṅga-pāṭala-ghanasāra-kastūrikātisaurabha-medura-laghutara-madhura-śītalatara-saliladhārā-nirākariṣṇu-tadīya-vimala-vilocana-mayūkha-rekhāpasārita-pipāsāyāsa-pathika-lokān

from the Varadāmbikā Pariṇaya Campū by Tirumalāmbā,^[58] composed of 195 Sanskrit letters (428 letters in the roman transliteration, dashes excluded), thus making it the longest word ever to appear in worldwide literature.^[59][60]

Each hyphen separates every individual word this word is composed of.

The approximate meaning of this word is:

«In it, the distress, caused by thirst, to travellers, was alleviated by clusters of rays of the bright eyes of the girls; the rays that were shaming the currents of light, sweet and cold water charged with the strong fragrance of cardamom, clove, saffron, camphor and musk and flowing out of the pitchers (held in) the lotus-like hands of maidens (seated in) the beautiful water-sheds, made of the thick roots of vetiver mixed with marjoram, (and built near) the foot, covered with heaps of couch-like soft sand, of the clusters of newly sprouting mango trees, which constantly darkened the intermediate space of the quarters, and which looked all the more charming on account of the trickling drops of the floral juice, which thus caused the delusion of a row of thick rainy clouds, densely filled with abundant nectar.»

Slovak[edit]

Traditionally, the word najneobhospodarovávateľnejšieho («of the least cultivable», 31 letters) is considered as the longest Slovak word, but there are some longer artificial words. Most of them are compound adjectives in dative, instrumental or other grammatical case and derived from the iterative or frequentative verbal form or the ability adjective form (like -able).^[61]
[62]

Artificial words, lexically valid but never used in language:

• znajneprekryštalizovávateľnejšievajúcimi, 40 letters, «through the least crystallised ones»
• znajnepreinternacionalizovateľnejšievať, 39 letters
• najnezrevolucionalizovateľnejšiemu, 34 letters ^[63]
• najnerozkrasokorčuľovateľnejšieho, 33 letters

Artificial words using Slovak towns or places, lexically valid but never used in language:

• znajneprehornádskodružstevnianskovávateľnejšievajúcimi, 54 letters
• znajneprechminianskojakubovianskovávateľnejšievajúcimi, 54 letters

Numerals:

• deväťstodeväťdesiatdeväťtisícštyristodeväťdesiatdeväť, 53 letters, «999499» ^[64]
• sedemstodeväťdesiatsedemtisícsedemstodeväťdesiatsedem, 53 letters, «797797» ^[65]

Spanish[edit]

The longest word in Spanish is esternocleidomastoideitis (inflammation of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, 30 letters).^[66] Runners-up are anticonstitucionalmente ([proceeding in a manner that is] contrary to the constitution) and electroencefalografistas (specialists that do electrical scans on brains (electroencephalographists)), both 23 letters.

The word anticonstitucionalmente is usually considered the longest word in general use. This word can be made even longer by the addition of the absolute superlative suffix, rendering anticonstitucionalísimamente (i.e.: «very strongly against the constitution»). Some dictionaries (but not the RAE dictionary^[67]) removed its root word (anticonstitucional) in 2005, causing comments about it not «being a valid word anymore» and suggesting the use of inconstitucional as a replacement.^{[citation needed]}

Swedish[edit]

Realisationsvinstbeskattning (28 letters) is the longest word in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista. It means «capital gains taxation», and is usually shortened to Reavinstskatt (same meaning).
However, Swedish grammar makes it possible to create arbitrarily long words. One such word is Spårvagnsaktiebolagsskensmutsskjutarefackföreningspersonalbeklädnadsmagasinsförråd-sförvaltarens (94 letters) which means: «[belonging to] The manager of the depot for the supply of uniforms to the personnel of the track cleaners’ union of the tramway company».^[68]

Toki Pona[edit]

The longest word in Toki Pona is kijetesantakalu (15 letters), which was proposed in 2009 as an April Fools’ joke by the language’s creator Sonja Lang as a word for any animal of the Procyonidae family, which includes raccoons and related species.^[69] The word has since entered into common use, and it has become common to define kijetesantakalu more broadly as any animal from the Musteloidea superfamily.^[70] In 2019 James Flear designed a glyph for kijetesantakalu in Toki Pona’s sitelen pona writing system, which has become a popular icon within the Toki Pona community.^[71]

As a minimalistic isolating constructed language, most words in Toki Pona are much shorter, the median being 4 letters. The longest words featured in the 2014 book Toki Pona: The Language of Good, Lang’s first official Toki Pona publication, are the 7-letter words kepeken («to use, by means of») and sitelen («symbol, picture»). The list of proposed country names in the same book also mentions ma Papuwanijukini («Papua New Guinea»), which includes a 14-letter proper adjective.^[72]

Vietnamese[edit]

Vietnamese is an isolating language, which naturally limits the length of a morpheme. The longest, at seven letters, is nghiêng, which means «inclined» or «to lean».^[73] This is the longest word that can be written without a space. However, not all words in Vietnamese are single morphemes. Indeed, nghiêng can be reduplicated as nghiêng nghiêng.

The written language abounds with compound words in which each constituent word is delimited by spaces, just like any freestanding word. Moreover, the grammar lacks inflection to mark parts of speech, and prepositions are often optional. Therefore, the boundary between a word and a phrase is poorly defined.^[74] Examples of this ambiguity include:

• Chủ nghĩa phân biệt chủng tộc («racism»), which is composed of the words chủ nghĩa («ideology»), phân biệt («discriminate»), and chủng tộc («race»)
• Cơm gà xào sả ớt, which literally describes a dish of grilled chicken sauteed with lemongrass and peppers on rice
• Ông bà anh chị em, a polite pronoun composed of five kinship terms

Unlike locally coined compound words, compound words in Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary are less ambiguous, because of the use of premodifiers (as in English) as opposed to the native postmodifiers. Long Sino-Vietnamese words include bách khoa toàn thư («encyclopedia») and thủy động lực học («hydrodynamics»).

Loanwords and pronunciation respellings from other languages can also result in long words. For example, «consortium» is côngxoocxiom (12 letters), and «Indonesia» may be left as-is or spelled In-đô-nê-xi-a (13 counting hyphens).^[75] The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Vietnam systematically respells foreign names, introducing long names into an official Vietnamese lexicon:

• Kômixacjepxkaia («Komissarzhevskaya», 15 letters)^[76]
• Rôjơđextơvenxki («Rozhdestvensky», 15 letters)^[77]
• Mêtơrôpôliten Ôpêra («Metropolitan Opera», 18 letters)^[78]

Long initialisms in Vietnamese include:

• CHXHCNVN (Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam, «Socialist Republic of Vietnam», 8 characters)
• MTDTGPMNVN (Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam, «Viet Cong», 10 characters)

In modern Vietnamese, compound words can be identified fairly easily within title cased text: a morpheme that begins with a capital letter followed by one or more morphemes that begin with a lowercase letter. For example, xã hội chủ nghĩa («socialism») is capitalized as one component within Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam.

Welsh[edit]

Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch, a railway station on the island of Anglesey in Wales, is the longest place name in the Welsh language. At 51 letters in the Welsh alphabet (the digraphs ll and ch are each collated as single letters) the name can be translated as «St Mary’s church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave». However, it was artificially contrived in the 1860s as a publicity stunt, to give the station the longest name of any railway station in the United Kingdom.

Long words are comparatively rare in Welsh. Candidates for long words other than proper nouns include the following (the digraph dd is also treated as a single letter, as is ng in many instances including in the last word below):

• gwrthddatgysylltiadaeth (antidisestablishmentarianism)
• microgyfrifiaduron (microcomputers)
• gwrthgyfansoddiaethwyr (anticonstitutionalists)
• lled-ddargludyddion (semiconductors)
• tra-arglwyddiaethasant (they tyrannised)
• cyfrwngddarostynedigaeth (intercession)^[79] (-au can be added to form the plural, and the word can be further lengthened slightly by initial mutation: fy nghyfrwngddarostynedigaethau, «my intercessions»)

See also[edit]

• Morphology (linguistics)
• Longest English sentence
• Coxeter group — mathematical concept whose entities are sometimes called words

References[edit]

Published August 27, 2021

That’s a big word, indeed!

Most of the longest words in the English language are scientific and technical terms, like pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. But what are some long words that you might actually use one day, without having to become a microbiologist or something? We have gathered up over a dozen lengthy words that you might actually come across in the wild (or at least might actually want to use). If you are a sesquipedalian, or hope to become one one day, this slideshow is for you. And to find out what sesquipedalian means, read on.

For a look at the longest words you’re likely never to use, just click here.

sesquipedalian

Sesquipedalian [ ses-kwi-pi-dey-lee-uhn ] means “given to using long words.” It comes from Latin sesquipedālis meaning “measuring a foot and a half.”

• The professor was so sesquipedalian that he was often incomprehensible to his students.

The poet Horace, who is credited with coining the term sesquipedalian in Latin, used the word to warn young poets against using overly long and complicated words. Horace, of course, ironically did not take his own advice here to make his point—sesquipedalian itself is 14 letters long.

magnanimity

If someone asks you the meaning of a word, it’s important to have magnanimity [ mag-nuh–nim-i-tee ] about it. Magnanimity means “the quality of being generous in forgiving an insult or injury; free from petty resentfulness or vindictiveness.”

• We hoped that the Queen would show magnanimity and not sentence us to prison for the slight.

The related term magnanimous comes from the Latin for “great-souled.” Impressive.

Speaking of soul, experience the linguistic offerings of soul food by reading about its history and vocabulary.

decompensation

As we noted, many of the longest terms in English are scientific and or medical terms. Some of these are so complex, it is unlikely you will come across them unless you are in the field. Others you are more likely to encounter, like decompensation [ dee-kom-puhn-sey-shuhn ]. Decompensation means “the inability of a diseased heart to compensate for its defect.”

• I observed some symptoms of heart decompensation in the patient, including difficulty breathing and leg swelling.

While typically decompensation refers to the heart organ no longer working properly, it can also be used to refer to other organs or a psychological state.

counterrevolutionary

One way long words are created in the English language is by combining different word elements together to create a new word. That’s the case with counterrevolutionary, a combination of counter, revolution, and the suffix –ary. Counterrevolutionary means “opposing a revolution or revolutionary government.”

• After the revolutionaries came to power, the landed gentry began plotting a counterrevolutionary movement to regain control.

deinstitutionalization

Public policy is another domain where you will find especially long words. An example is deinstitutionalization, meaning “the release of institutionalized people, especially mental health patients, from an institution for placement and care in the community.”

• Many studies find that deinstitutionalization led to an increase in the number of mentally ill people in prison.

transcendentalism

Our next term, transcendentalism [ trans-sen-den-tl-iz-uhm ], also describes an American social experiment, of sorts, from the 19th century. Transcendentalism, or transcendental philosophy, is “a philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical.”

• The group quickly embraced the principles of transcendentalism, including respect of nature and the importance of human effort.

The writers most closely associated with transcendentalism are Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Thoreau.

paleoanthropology

As you may have gathered, many academic terms are quite long. Even the names of some academic disciplines can get up there in length, like paleoanthropology [ pey-lee-oh-an-thruh–pol–uh-jee ]. Paleoanthropology is “the study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species, using fossils and other remains.”

• One of the most important aspects of paleoanthropology is determining whether ancient fossilized remains are Homo sapien or another hominin species.

Learn about other intriguing areas of study and profession with this article on 10 other “-ologist” professions.

psychophysiology

Another academic domain with a daunting name is psychophysiology, “the branch of physiology that deals with the interrelation of mental and physical phenomena.” Physiology is the branch of biology that deals with the functions and activities of living organisms.

• The medical students studied psychophysiology to learn how heart rate is related to a patient’s emotional state.

The psycho- part of the word psychophysiology is a combining form meaning “psyche” or “mind.”

countercyclical

Yet another area where you are likely to find long, complex terminology is in business and economics. That’s where we get the term countercyclical, “opposing the trend of a business or economic cycle; countervailing.” For example, reducing spending when the economy is doing well is an example of a countercyclical economic policy.

• Our panel of economic advisors recommends that we enact countercyclical infrastructure investment; when the economy is doing poorly, we should spend more on roads and bridges.

profligacy

Another lengthy term related to economics is profligacy [ prof-li-guh-see ], meaning “reckless extravagance” or “great abundance.”

• Budget hawks were once again warning that the government’s profligacy was going to increase the nation’s debt.

The word profligacy ultimately comes from the Latin prōflīgātus, meaning “degraded” or “debased.”

palingenesist

Philosophy and theology are also great sources for long words. One example is palingenesist [ pal-in-jen–uh-sist ], “a person who believes in a doctrine of rebirth or transmigration of souls.”

• The palingenesist Plutarch believed that the soul is reborn into another body after death, a theory known as metempsychosis.

(Bonus big word: metempsychosis!)

The original use of the word palingenesis, or the continual rebirth of the universe, dates back to ancient Greek philosophers known as the Stoics.

palimpsest

Another long word we can thank the Greeks for is palimpsest [ pal-imp-sest ], from Greek palímpsēstos, meaning “rubbed again.” The word palimpsest in English originally meant “a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.”

• Scholars use sophisticated equipment like optical scanners to read the remains of erased texts on Medieval palimpsests.

These days, palimpsest is most often used figuratively to mean “something that has a new layer, aspect, or appearance that builds on its past and allows us to see or perceive parts of this past.”

antepenultimate

Our third to the last word in this slideshow is, appropriately, antepenultimate [ an-tee-pi-nuhl-tuh-mit ]. Antepenultimate means “third from the end.”

• I was relieved to see that I was slated to be the antepenultimate speaker, so I would only have to wait for two more presentations after my own.

The word antepenultimate ultimately comes from the Latin antepaenultima meaning “the second (syllable) from the last.”

dodecaphonism

Some long words are just fun to say. That’s the case with dodecaphonism, “musical composition using the 12-tone technique.” Dodecaphonism [ doh-dek–uh-fuh-niz-uhm ] is a composition technique that uses all 12 notes of the chromatic scale and is atonal.

• The dodecaphonism in the composer’s work created a strange and unsettling feeling in the listeners.

amelioration

A particularly long word that we hope you find a lot of good use for is amelioration, “an act or instance of making better.”

• We were hopeful that the move would lead to an amelioration of our living conditions and a better quality of life overall.

Funnily enough, amelioration [ uh-meel-yuh-rey-shuhn ] and melioration mean the exact same thing.

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.