English is a beautiful language that has numerous words with different meanings. Some words are simple and easy to pronounce. While, there are a few English words that are very lengthy and hard to pronounce, but have simple meanings. For example, one of the longest English words in the Oxford Dictionary is “Floxinoxinihilipilification” and its meaning is worthless or useless. Likewise, the English language has more long words. Here, in this blog post, let us have a look at the top 12 longest words in English that are very difficult to pronounce.
List of Longest Words in English
Do you wish to know the longest English words and their meaning? Well, check the list shared below. From the list, you can get to know 12 interesting longest English words, their synonyms, and where it was used more often.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
It means “Extreme fear of long words”. This is a noun and it implies the fear of long words. Ironically the longest word denotes the extreme fear of long words.
Antidisestablishmentarianism
This word is a noun and it originated in Britain in the 19th century. In recent times this word is used in the context of governmental institutions that withdraw support from a religious institution.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a noun and it came into existence in the late 1930s. Though this word finds a place in the Oxford English dictionary it is not used in real medical practices.
Read also: An Understanding of the Language Features and Structural Features Used in the English Language
Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
The meaning of this word is “A disorder that an individual inherited and because of which the person appears to be phenotypic. The word implies a disorder that is genetic in type and that adversely affects the structure of bones. It causes a round face, short stature, and short limb bones in a person.
Aequeosalinocalcalinoceraceoaluminosocupreovitriolic
The definition of the above word is “Spa water in the City of Bath in England”.
The word is a noun and was coined by physicist Dr. Edward Strother in the 18th century. The word was formed by concatenating several Latin words that describe the chemical composition of the water used in spas in the city of Bath, England.
Otorhinolaryngological
The definition of this word is “A branch of science (medicine) that deals with the treatment of head, throat, ear, nose and neck disorders”.
Most patients suffering from cancer and benign tumors in the neck and head seek treatment for this type of disease. Patients suffering from benign tumors, and cancers in the head or neck seek such types of treatments (Otorhinolaryngological).
Hepaticocholangiocholecystenterostomies
This word is one of the longest words that are found in the medical dictionary of Gould. It implies the connection between three organs namely the gallbladder, hepatic duct, and intestine. The link between the said organs allows them to communicate with one another.
Osseocaynisanguineoviscericartilagininervomedullary
This word was used for the first time by Thomas Love Peacock in his novel “Headlong Hall in the year 1816”. The word is a combination of Latin and Greek terms describing parts of the human body.
Honorificabilitudinitatibus
This word was used by Shakespeare in his much-acclaimed comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost. It is one of the longest words with a unique characteristic. It has alternating consonants and vowels.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
It is another longest words in English with thirty-four letters. But it appears only in a few dictionaries and not in all. The word has its origin in the year 1930 but was popularized by the 1964 film Mary Poppins. The meaning of the word is ‘extremely good’. It can be used to describe when something is extraordinary.
Incomprehensibilities
The meaning of this word is the state of being impossible or extremely difficult to understand. For example – He worried about the document’s sheer incomprehensibility. The film is chopped and edited to the point of incomprehensibility. This particular word set the record in the 1990s as the longest word “in common usage.” The root word of ‘incomprehensibilities’ is ‘incomprehensible’, originating from the Latin incomprehensibilis: in- (“not”) and comprehensibilis.
Subdermatoglyphic
The word represents a specific state. It stands about the layer of the skin beneath the fingertips. The subdermatoglyphic state of everyone’s fingerprints is different. This particular word is extremely rare, and highly interesting for linguists to use than the medical professionals.
Longest Words in the English Dictionary
The longest word in English consists of 189819 characters. This word exists and it means a giant protein named “titin” that is responsible for passive muscle elasticity. Besides, the longest word in the dictionary is Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. If you are anxious to know the pronunciation of the word then visit online, check relevant YouTube content and you will be able to understand the pronunciation of the word.
Also Read: How Long Do Idiots Live- Meaning and Origin of the Meme
How Lengthy English Words Were Used in Early Literature?
In the ancient Greek play, there is a word with a length of 171 letters and that word implies a fictional cuisine. In the Greek play, the cuisine describes the ingredients required to prepare it.
Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphioparaomelitokatakechymenoki
chlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon…
Much acclaimed writer James Joyce used new words for writing his novel named Finnegans Wake. He used nine 100-lettered words along with a 101-lettered word in his novel. James Joyce used the following-word in his novel:-
“Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnth
unntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk.”
This word implies symbolic thunderclap and lightning associated with the falling of Adam and Eve.
More details: Learn and Understand the Common English Techniques
What is the Longest English Word with One-Syllable?
Most of the longest words in the English language are composed of several smaller words, usually related to technology or medicine. However, some remarkably lengthy words only contain one syllable. Here, let us look at a few longest one-syllable English words:
The verb screeched, which means “made a loud, squealing noise,” is the most often used one-syllable English word. However, the English dictionary also has other one-syllable words that are entirely nine letters long. It includes the following- Scratched, Schlepped, Scrunched, Scrounged, Straights, Stretched, and Strengths.
Another word, schtroumpfed, is noted as the longest monosyllabic word in English with 12 letters. But the issue with this word is that it is not a legitimate word. The term comes from the French word for Smurfs, “Schtroumpfs.” So, whether or not this word belongs in the English vocabulary is up for discussion.
Which English Word is the Longest without Vowels?
Unfortunately, there is no obvious solution to the question of what the longest English word without vowels is. The answer is dependent on whether we consider the “y” to be a consonant or a vowel. However, in the majority of English words, the letter y is pronounced vowel.
The list of longest words that contain ‘y’ but lack vowels is as follows:
- Crypts – Burial sites for humans
- Rhythms – Repeated sound patterns
- Spryly – An adverb derived from the word “spry”
- Symphysy – Union of two entities or components
- Syzygy- An alignment of planets in astrology
- Trysts – Secret or covert gatherings
- Twyndyllyngs – The term with Welsh roots that denotes twins
Conclusion
English is an interesting language that is fun to learn. Here, we have shared only the 12 longest English words. Besides that, the English language also has plenty of the longest words that are hard to spell. If you wish to explore them all, take a look at the reputed English dictionary or reach out to us. We have several English experts on our team to assist you in finding out lengthy words with their meanings. Also, our professionals will help you learn interesting facts about English words.
