17 of The Longest English Words: Can You Pronounce Them?!
The Oxford English Dictionary contains over 170,000 words in current use, but what are the longest words in the English language? In this article, you’ll find a list of the longest English words along with a video of each of them being pronounced. I hope you’re ready to learn some long words!
The longest word in English is the chemical name for the titin protein found in humans. It is named after the chemicals that make it up and is 189,819 letters long. This would fill pages of this article alone, so we won’t include it here due to space constraints! However, it has even been disputed if it forms a real word at all. For this reason, and because dictionaries tend to omit technical names of chemicals, you won’t find it in this list.
Anyway, before we get side-tracked, we’re here to focus on the longest English words that you can find in a dictionary. So, let’s get into it! Here is a list of 17 of the longest words in English:
The 17 Longest English Words
1. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters)
The longest English word in the dictionary is Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which is a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust.
So, if you were wondering what word is longer than supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, this is your answer. The Merriam Webster dictionary also lists acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene but it has got hyphens in it so we won’t count it!
How is the longest word in the English language pronounced? Play the video below to hear someone saying the longest word!
2. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (36 letters)
The second longest word on our list is Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the name for the fear of long words, how ironic! It also happens to be the longest non-medical word in English.
3. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (34 letters)
Are you a Mary Poppins fan? If you are then you’ll be very familiar with this very long word with the same first and last letters. And, before you ask how many words supercalifragilisticexpialidocious has, I can assure you that it is only one!
A fabulously nonsensical word derived from the popular film Mary Poppins, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious means something that is great or extraordinary. It’s…
4. Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters)
Pseudohypoparathyroidism is a genetic disorder associated with resistance to the parathyroid hormone. It is characterized by short stature, a round face, a short neck, and shortened bones in the hands and feet.
5. Eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious (30 letters)
Eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious is an adjective that means “very good, very fine”. It first appeared in Wisen’s dictionary of American slang. So, it’s a bit of a tenuous one but we’ll allow it. It would appear that it’s not only British slang that has some strange words!
6. Floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters)
Floccinaucinihilipilification is the action or habit of describing or estimating something as unimportant or worthless. Easy for you to say…
7. Antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters)
One that I learned in history class! Antidisestablishmentarianism describes a political movement in 19th century England against the disestablishment or removal of the Church of England as the official state church of England, Ireland, and Wales.
Essentially, it meant to be against disestablishmentarianism, which was campaigning for the separation of church and state.
You can still use antidisestablishmentarianism today to refer to opposition to the withdrawal of government funding or support for a particular church or religion.
8. Honorificabilitudinitatibus (27 letters)
From the works of Shakespeare, the meaning of honorificabilitudinitatibus is the state of being able to achieve honors or “with honorableness”. It is also in the Guinness World Records for the longest English word consisting strictly of alternating consonants and vowels.
9. Thyroparathyroidectomized (25 letters)
A medical term for the surgical removal of both the thyroid and parathyroid glands.
10. Dichlorodifluoromethane (23 letters)
Dichlorodifluoromethane is a colorless gas and cooling or freezing agent for consumer use, sold under the name Feon-12. The technical definition of dichlorodifluoromethane is a chlorofluoromethane CCl2F2.
11. Incomprehensibilities (21 letters)
Incomprehensibilities means impossible or incredibly difficult to comprehend. In the 1990s it set the record as the longest word “in common usage”, which seems almost incomprehensible when you think about it. It often feels like there are a lot of incomprehensibilities in language learning!
12. Uncharacteristically (20 letters)
Uncharacteristically is an adverb that describes something that is not typical or usual for a particular person, thing, or situation. It suggests behavior or qualities that deviate from what is expected based on past behavior or established characteristics. For example, if someone is usually very punctual but arrives late to a meeting, you could say they are behaving uncharacteristically.
13. Xenotransplantation (19 letters)
Xenotransplantation is a procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation, or infusion of live cells, tissues, or organs from a non-human source (animal) into a human. Confused? Take a look at the image below:
It’s quite a controversial topic, and the name is pretty tricky too! Why not see if you can pronounce it?
14. Conversationalists (18 letters)
While there are some longer words around, it felt only right to include this in an article about long words. Conversationalists are individuals who are skilled in or enjoy engaging in conversation. In other words, they use a lot of words!
Conversationalists are adept at participating in discussions, exchanging ideas, and communicating effectively in social interactions. They often possess good communication skills and can express themselves clearly. Let’s see if you can do the same when you try pronouncing the word!
15. Sesquipedalianism (17 letters)
We had to make the list long enough to include this one. Sesquipedalianism is the practice of using long words in speech or writing. How apt!
16. Trichotillomania (16 letters)
If you’ve made it this far you might be suffering from this! Trichotillomania is an inexplicable, compulsive desire to pull out your own hair. You could say it’s completely understandable if you’re trying to pronounce these words!
17. Uncopyrightable (15 letters)
Uncopyrightable refers to something that cannot be protected by copyright laws. For example, ideas and commonly known information are not copyrightable, and neither is a place name. This makes them uncopyrightable.
An important note
There are some other long words that we could have included in this list of the longest words in English, and you may see some other words in different lists depending on where you look. However, not all dictionaries will include highly technical, medical words so we have tried to avoid including these in our longest word list.
The Longest English Word in History?
So, what is the biggest word? Are you still thinking about the longest English word in history? Thought you might be! If you want to know the longest word in English, it’s spelled Methionylalanylthreonyl… You didn’t think I was going to spell the whole thing out, did you? We’d be here for hours!
However, if you want to hear how it’s pronounced, one hero has made a YouTube video for it. So, settle in for a 1-hour epic and enjoy the longest English word pronunciation you’ll hear in your life!
As a reminder, and if you want to know more about it, it’s the titin protein. This can be found in humans and is essential to the structure, development, and elasticity of muscle. Its chemical name is 189,819 letters long.
A young MrBeast even had a go at pronouncing the longest word in English…
The Longest Conclusion
Don’t worry, I’m not really going to put you through the longest conclusion in the English language after all that!
English has some of the longest words in any language. Some of these words, such as supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, are fun to say. Others can be quite a mouthful. While most of these words aren’t commonly used in day-to-day conversations, they are still interesting to learn about because of their length and complexity. They’ll also be great to remember for word games!
Were you able to successfully pronounce any of the longest English words? Let us know in the comments! And, if you want to try and challenge yourself further, you can check out some of the hardest words to pronounce in English. They may not be the longest words, but that doesn’t make them any easier!
Want to learn more?
The English language is full of interesting and complex words and there are loads of amazing facts about English that are worth exploring.
For those of you who are ESL teachers or English language learners, having a go at pronouncing these words can be a great way to bring some fun into the classroom. You can also check out these ESL games for adults for some more classroom fun.
