Top 10 Longest Words In The English Language

The English language is an interesting one. It is one of the most commonly used languages in the world because of colonisation back in the early days. Historical linguists date the English language back to the fifth century when Germanic tribes invaded Britain. Both language groups influenced each other, forming what we now know as Old English.

Two factors led to the evolution of modern English and the reason why it is so widely used in the world today. Firstly, the advent of printing in the 16th century allowed for mass production of language for the first time. Secondly, as waves of colonialism and imperialism travelled further into other parts of the world, the English language also spread along with it. The United Kingdom (UK) imposed English onto these colonies and imperialised nations, therefore, spreading the English language far and wide until today.

However, despite being considered the world’s official lingua franca, there are still many words that puzzle us until today and others that are so unnecessarily long and rarely used. They are known as sesquipedalians. Today, we introduce you to the 10 longest English words in the world!

1. Incomprehensibilities - 21 letters

Pronounced “in kom pree hen si bee li tees”, this word is a noun which refers to something that is impossible to comprehend or understand. In 1990, incomprehensibilities set the record as the longest most commonly used word.

An example of usage would be: “Her speech in a drunken stupor came out as incomprehensibilities.”

2. Dichlorodifluoromethane - 23 letters

Dichlorodifluoromethane is a colourless gas that usually presents with a faint ethereal odour and is most commonly used in aerosol-spray propellants, solvents, and foam-blowing agents. This gas is suitable for these applications and many others because of its nontoxic and nonflammable nature, and can also be readily converted from a liquid to a gas and vice versa.

Dichlorodifluoromethane is pronounced as “die klor row die floor ro meh thain”.

An example of usage would be: “Dense gases such as xenon and dichlorodifluoromethane have low thermal conductivity.”

3. Thyroparathyroidectomized - 25 letters

Pronounced as “thy row pa ra thai ru-oid deck te myzed”, this word is the adjective form of the noun thyroparathyroidectomy which refers to the surgical removal of the thyroid and parathyroid glands.

An example of usage would be: “As his medical condition was getting worse, he had to be thyroparathyroidectomized.”

4. Honorificabilitudinitatibus - 27 letters

Pronounced as “ho ner ri fi ka bi li tu di ne ta ti bus”, this is one of the longest words in English that is mentioned in Act V, Scene I of William Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost by character Costard. This word means the state of being able to achieve honors

As its only recorded mention was that once in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Honorificabilitudinitatibus is considered a hapax legomenon in the Shakepearean canon.

The example of usage mentioned in Love’s Labour Lost is:

“I marvel thy master hath not eaten thee for a word;

for thou art not so long by the head as

honorificabilitudinitatibus: thou art easier

swallowed than a flap-dragon.”

5. Antidisestablishmentarianism - 28 letters

Antidisestablishmentarianism is pronounced as “an tee dis es teh bleesh men te ri-uh ni zem” and is a term referring to a political movement in 19th century Britain.

At that time, the Church of England was the official state church of England, Ireland and Wales. This position was called establishmentarianism.

However, in the 19th century, more and more people favoured a clean separation between the Church and the State, which led to the disestablishmentarianism movement. The movement to oppose the disestablishment was called antidisestablishmentarianism.

An example of usage would be: “Because Antidisestablishmentarianism won in England, the Monarch of Great Britain is also the ‘Supreme Governor of the Church of England’ to this day.”

6. Floccinaucinihilipilification - 29 letters

Pronounced “flok si no si ny hil i pil i fi kay shuhn”, this noun means the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.

Alongside other long words, or sesquipedalians, this word is a mouthful and rarely used.

An example of usage would be: “I was outraged by James’s floccinaucinihilipilification of my prized sneaker collection.”

7. Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism - 30 letters

This word is pronounced as “soo dough soo dough hi po peh-ruh thai ru oid i zm” and is a term to describe a rare genetic disorder that causes short stature, short hand bones, and a round face.

Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism, or PPHP for short, is caused by a mutated gene which causes joints and soft tissues to harden, and also affects bone formation. As a result, people with PPHP may experience bone, joint and nerve damage which can cause lasting pain.

PPHP is also known as albright hereditary osteodystrophy without multiple hormone resistance.

8. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - 34 letters

If you are familiar with the musical Mary Poppins, then you will be excited to see this word in the list!

Pronounced “soo puh ke lly freh je lis tick ek spee ye lee dough shuhs”, this word was probably made famous because of the abovementioned musical and is known as a nonsensical adjective describing something great, extraordinary or wonderful.

An example of usage would be: My sister loves her new toy poodle so much that she said it was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

9. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - 36 letters

Ironically, this 36 letter word is a term that refers to the fear of long words.

Pronounced as “hee po puh to mon stuh ses kwee-p peh duhl-i-o foe bee uh” with the first four syllabus sounding like that of the first four syllabus of hippopotamus.

It can probably be broken down into hippopoto-monstros like huge and monstrous, followed by the sesquipedalian, which means long words and followed by the word phobia.

An example of usage would be: “My little brother has hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, so we try to avoid giving him complex books to read.

10. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis - 45 letters

Finally, the longest word in the English language to date is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis at 45 letters long.

This word is pronounced as “noo muh noh uhl truh mai kro skop ik sil i koh vol kay noh koh nee-oh sis” and is the name of a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust.

An example of usage would be: “Doctors suspect Ginny had either pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, or a very bad cough.”

There you have it! 10 extremely long words in the English dictionary that we will probably never use in our lives. But it is always good to know. Try pronouncing one or two of these and surprise your friends and family in the next conversation you have!

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