Longest Words in the English Language
Although we’ll be talking about some of the longest English words in this blog, we’ve stopped short at covering the longest word in the English language here.
This is because that one word, the chemical name for the titin protein found in humans, spans fifty-seven pages of A4, contains 189,819 letters and takes precisely three hours and twenty-two minutes to pronounce – which is actually a full seven minutes longer than the running time of the film Titanic.
The official chemical name for this protein and many other long words are omitted from the dictionary due to space constraints, and the fact that the average person wouldn’t need to be aware of such technical terms.
However, there are still plenty of other lengthy words in the dictionary, and in this piece, we’ll be looking at fourteen such words and finding out what they mean.
#1: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Word Count: Forty-five letters
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a lung condition caused by inhaling the dust of silica or quartz.
#2: Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
Word Count: Thirty letters
Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism is a mild form of inherited pseudohypoparathyroidism that replicates the symptoms of the disease, but is not associated with abnormal levels of calcium and phosphorus in the bloodstream like the initial disorder.
#3: Floccinaucinihilipilification
Word Count: Twenty-nine letters
Floccinaucinihilipilification is the conclusion that one comes to when deeming something to be completely valueless. The word floccinaucinihilipilification in itself is something of a valueless word. Ironically it is seldom used unless it appears on a list of long words such as this one.
#4: Antidisestablishmentarianism
Word Count: Twenty-eight letters
No list of long words would be complete without a mention for a classic: antidisestablishmentarianism.
This word was initially used to describe opposition to the Church of England, but these days it can now refer to opposition to the withdrawal of government support for any particular church or religion.
#5: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Word Count: Thirty-four letters
Another classic long word, and possibly the one most of us would go to if asked: what is the longest word we know. Mary Poppins describes supercalifragilisticexpialidocious as the word to use “when you have nothing to say”. This word appears in many dictionaries but is still absent in some.
#6: Incomprehensibilities
Word count: Twenty-seven letters
During the 1990s, incomprehensibilities set the record as the longest word currently in common usage.
#7: Strengths
Word count: Nine letters
Although this word has only nine letters, it’s exceptional because all but one letter are consonants. This means the word earns its place in the Guinness World Book of Records. It’s also known as one of the longest monosyllabic words in the English language.
#8: Euouae
Word count: Six letters
Euouae, at six letters long, is composed entirely of vowels and holds two Guinness World Records. Firstly, as the longest English word made up exclusively of vowels, and secondly because it has more consecutive vowels than any other word. The word itself refers to a musical term used in the medieval era.
#9: Unimaginatively
Word count: Eight letters
Along with strengths, unimaginatively, is probably one of the words on this list that you’ve actually used in conversation before.
The word itself is noteworthy because it is perhaps the longest word in mainstream circulation with alternating consonants and vowels. However, it is not the longest word with this unique feature, that belongs to…
#10: Honorificabilitudinitatibus
Word count: Twenty-seven letters
Honorificabilitudinitatibus is a word unsurprisingly coined by Shakespeare, and means ‘with honourableness’.
#11: Tsktsk
Word count: Six letters
Although tsktsk is the joint shortest word in our list, it is notable as the longest word with an absence of vowels. The term itself describes the disapproving tutting sound one makes.
#12: Uncopyrightable & #13: Subdermatoglyphic
Word counts: Fifteen letters and seventeen letters
These two words are examples of isogram words, which have no repeat letters present. Uncopyrightable describes something that is not eligible for copyright. Whereas subdermatoglyphic refers to a technical term in the sector of dermatology.
#14: Sesquipedalianism
Word count: Seventeen
The fourteenth word on our list refers to someone with a proclivity for using long words. If that sounds like you, then no doubt you’ll enjoy using some of the words in this blog. Except, perhaps, the 189,819 word – it’s pretty doubtful that anyone will stick around for three and a half hours for you to finish anyway!
Bonus Word: Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas
Word count: Sixty-one words
This word couldn’t make our initial list, since it’s technically not featured in the English language and nor technically is it a single word. In fact, it’s actually a Finnish phrase, which means: technical warrant officer trainee specialised in aircraft jet engines – which has been used as a job title in the Finnish Airforce.
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