What’s the longest word you know? Is it a lengthy German word, or a Welsh name? One of those pesky long word combinations for numbers in French? At any rate, for English speakers, the first word that comes to mind might be “antidisestablishmentarianism.” And if so, you’re in for a surprise! We decided to go on a hunt for the longest word in the world and I’m excited to share what we found!

Last actualization 3/07/2024


longest word in the world

The Longest Word in the World: the ranking

Before we get started, it’s important to know that naming the “longest word” in a language isn’t as simple as it may sound.

It’s not enough for a word to be made up of an endless number of letters; it also has to be officially recognized and listed in the dictionary.

So many are automatically eliminated. But that doesn’t stop us from being curious! Let’s look at some surprisingly long words (official or not) in this slightly zany ranking.

What is the word for the fear of long words?

But be warned, if you suffer from a fear of long words, you are suffering of hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. So, may want to look away now!

The Longest Word in the World (official words)

English might be popular, but it’s not the only language in the world, and it definitely doesn’t have all the longest words in the world!

In English, we tend to keep things short and sweet, and we love contractions like can’t, don’t, and won’t.

But there are plenty of languages (we’re looking at you, German!) that love sticking words together to create huge long words, called compounds.

These are called agglutinative languages. They include German (of course), Japanese, Turkish, Korean, and Hungarian.

Let the games begin!

Nghiêng (7 letters)

No, this one isn’t a mistake! It’s obviously not the longest word in the world, but even though it’s only seven letters, it is the longest word in Vietnamese! (Technically, it’s a morpheme, or unit of language that has meaning, rather than a word. Vietnamese is an isolating language, which means that words are made up of multiple morphemes but separated by spaces. This morpheme, means “tilted” or “leaning.”)

Esternocleidomastoideo (22 letters)

The Spanish have it figured out! Though it sounds like a dinosaur name, this is a medical term that refers to a muscle in the human body: the sternocleidomastoid muscle located on either side of the neck. However, this word isn’t officially recognized.

So, if we stick to the dictionary, “electroencefalografistas” (24 letters) is the Spanish word for “electroencephalographer” (the person who records the brain’s electrical activity).

Precipitevolissimevolmente (26 letters)

The Italian word “precipitevolissimevolmente” is derived from the adjective “precipitevole” meaning “in a hurried manner.”

To simplify, the word can be translated as “very very very quickly.”

It’s become popular in everyday language, but technically, it’s not grammatically correct. It essentially combines an adjective and adverb into one word.

How to pronounce precipitevolissimevolmente:

 

Such a long word for such a quick concept! It might be one of the longest Italian words to be officially recognized, but you will hear it more in jokes than in everyday language.

Kraftfahrzeughaftpflichtversicherung (36 letters)

This German word is officially the longest in the dictionary.

It means “motor liability insurance.” However, until a few years ago, it lagged behind the word “rindfleischetikettierungsueberwachungsaufgabenuebertragungsgesetz” (63 letters), which meant “law regarding the transfer of monitoring obligations for beef labeling.”

Now that European legislation has changed, the word has lost its place in the ranking. I’m not sure which one I prefer, though…

How to pronounce Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz:

German numbers can get pretty long too.

Unlike English numbers, German compounds numbers together. So the number 7,777 is written in word form in German as siebentausendsiebenhundertsiebundsiebzig. Gesundheit!

Meervoudigepersoonlijkheidsstoornissen (38 letters)

The longest word in the Dutch dictionary is the term for “multiple personality disorders.” That’s quite a mouthful for an everyday word.

Like other Germanic languages, Dutch has a lot of compound words. This means that its vocabulary can be glued together to make long words, which are often phrases in themselves.

Sünnipäevanädalalõpupeopärastlõunaväsimus (42 letters)

As for the Estonians, they don’t mess around with birthdays. They have a 42-letter word just for identifying “the tiredness felt after lunch on a birthday weekend.”

If you speak any of the language, you can pick out “day,” “birthday,” “weekend,” “party,” “after lunch,” and “fatigue.”

Do you think they have a similar word for Christmas-time post-meal fatigue?

Aminométhylpyrimidinylhydroxyéthylméthylthiazolium (50 letters)

This French word takes a big jump forward forward. It’s none other than vitamin B2, or what it’s really called: “aminomethylpyrimidinylhydroxyethylmethylthiazolium chloride.”

Next time you go to the pharmacy, you can test your pharmacist, provided you’ve practiced pronouncing it correctly.

You might have thought that French numbers would be extra long too, just like in German.

French is famous for having complicated numbers, such as quatre-vingt-dix (four-twenties-ten) for the number ninety, but alas, that’s about as long as they get!

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (58 letters)

Welsh has a reputation for being a tricky language.

Those double “L”s make a weird and wonderful sound, pronounced as a /ɬ/ (look it up in the International Phonetic Alphabet for more info), which has no English equivalent.

It’s a bit like a “hl” sound. Try it – it’s harder than it seems! But let’s make this a bit easier. Say the word “house.” That’s a normal “h” sound. Now say the word “hue.”

That’s a voiceless palatal fricative, which is a fancy way of saying that your tongue touches the roof of your mouth and pushes vibrating air through a tiny hole when you say it.

This word might not be easy to say, but unfortunately, it’s not really a word either.

It’s the name of a town in Wales, in other words, a proper noun, so it doesn’t qualify. If you want to hear how this long Welsh word sounds, you can listen to Naomi Watts pronouncing it perfectly on YouTube.

Pinakanakakapagngitngitngitngitang-pagsisinungasinungalingan (59 letters)

Tagalog is an official language in the Philippines.

This mouthful of a word is a strong contender for the longest word in the world, especially because it has a legitimate meaning: “lying that causes the most extreme anger.” We can relate…

Vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúraútidyralyklakippuhringur (64 letters)

I was right to believe in Iceland!

Only 64 letters for the longest word in the Icelandic language.

By the way, if you want to practice pronouncing it, there’s a video on YouTube. An Icelander, well aware of the pronunciation problem, has made a video of it lasting just a few seconds.

He’s even accompanied by a baby goat – what could be more touching to soften this adage, which means “the key ring to the tool work shed in the road works of Vaðlaheiði” (a mountain road in North Iceland)?

निरन्तरान्धकारित-दिगन्तर-कन्दलदमन्द-सुधारस-बिन्दु-सान्द्रतर-घनाघन-वृन्द-सन्देहकर-स्यन्दमान-मकरन्द-बिन्दु-बन्धुरतर-माकन्द-तरु-कुल-तल्प-कल्प-मृदुल-सिकता-जाल-जटिल-मूल-तल-मरुवक-मिलदलघु-लघु-लय-कलित-रमणीय-पानीय-शालिका-बालिका-करार-विन्द-गलन्तिका-गलदेला-लवङ्ग-पाटल-घनसार-कस्तूरिकातिसौरभ-मेदुर-लघुतर-मधुर-शीतलतर-सलिलधारा-निराकरिष्णु-तदीय-विमल-विलोचन-मयूख-रेखापसारित-पिपासायास-पथिक-लोकान् (195 characters, 428 letters in the Latin alphabet)

So now we’ve turned a corner.

No more fighting over a difference of two or three letters – we’re on the final podium.

With 428 letters in the Latin alphabet, this Sanskrit term describing a region of Tamil Nadu in India is the longest in the world.

It’s no surprise, then, to learn that it was first used in literature in the 16th century and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

Here is its transcription in our alphabet. Happy reading!

“Nirantarāndhakārita-digantara-kandaladamanda-sudhārasa-bindu-sāndratara-ghanāghana-vr̥nda-sandēhakara-syandamāna-makaranda-bindu- bandhuratara-mākanda-taru-kula-talpa-kalpa-mr̥dula-sikatā-jāla-jaṭila-mūla-tala-maruvaka-miladalaghu-laghu-laya-kalita-ramaṇīya- pānīya-śālikā-bālikā-karāra-vinda-galantikā-galadēlā-lavaṅga-pāṭala-ghanasāra-kastūrikātisaurabha-mēdura-laghutara- madhura-śītalatara-saliladhārā-nirākariṣṇu-tadīya-vimala-vilōcana-mayūkha-rēkhāpasārita-pipāsāyāsa-pathika-lōkān.”

Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminyla…isoleucine (189,819 letters)

The Longest Word in the World is Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminyla…isoleucine (chemical name of Titin).

And yet, the winner is…English!

This word represents the chemical name of Titin, the largest known protein, and takes 3 hours to pronounce.

So maybe don’t even try.

It’s also pretty much impossible to use in daily life. But it’s definitely a good trivia fact to have up your sleeve!

 

The Longest Word in the World (not official)

It’s not uncommon for imaginative authors to create words that become well known and sometimes even used in colloquial situations.

Most of these, however, don’t make it into dictionaries. Here are a couple of examples:

Hippocamelelephantoles (22 letters)

This word is used by Cyrano de Bergerac in Edmond Rostand’s famous play. It refers to an imaginary animal that combines the seahorse, elephant, and camel.

It’s the only animal with a nose as long as Cyrano’s. A fine specimen in any case.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (34 letters)

As a Disney fan, I’d always thought that the longest word in the world was the legendary “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from Mary Poppins. After all, it’s 34 letters long! For those unfamiliar with the eponymous song, this word is a magic formula that means “extremely well.” However, it’s not easy to use in conversation…

And for those of you who do know the song, you can thank me: now you’ll have it stuck in your head for a long time.

Némélectroreculpédalicoupeventombrosoparacloucycle (51 letters)

Our big winner in this section is undoubtedly this one. Mary Poppins is a laugh in comparison!

A point for France, then, because the longest word in the world could be this one. From a series of French comic strips published long ago (1893), “némélectroreculpédalicoupeventombrosoparacloucycle” is the name of an invention dreamed up by the main character, a scientist called Cosinus.

The invention is a bicycle that uses “all known and even unknown propulsive forces,” i.e. pedals, a small rear sail and an electric motor.

It even has a cannon, a parasol and a broom.

longest word in the world

Source: LeFigaro

Well, it’s true, apart from practicing your pronunciation with these excellent tongue twisters, it can be difficult to use them in everyday life. Let’s take a look at some words that actually exist.

What are the longest words in English?

If you ask an English speaker, they will probably say that the longest word they know is “antidisestablishmentarianism.” You have to hand it to them, that’s a mouthful!

It means “opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England,” and it was used (a little bit) when Henry VIII split from the Catholic Church in the 16th century.

But Merriam-Webster hates this word. They hate it so much, they’ve made a statement about why it’s not in any of their dictionaries. There’s no real record of it ever being used meaningfully, so they refuse to count it as a word.

So, unfortunately, what most people say is the longest word in the English language isn’t a word at all.

What is the longest English word in the dictionary?

As we mentioned above, and according to Merriam-Webster, the longest word in the English language is the chemical name of titin, the largest known protein, which is a whopping 189,819 letters long. Scientific words can get extremely long, as they are often not simply arbitrary names, but a detailed description of the substance in question.

💡 Apparently, it would take you over 3.5 hours to pronounce it in full. That’s 42 days’ worth of flashcard revision on the MosaLingua app! If you wanted to post this word on Twitter, you’d have to put it in over 1,355 separate tweets!

But again, not exactly a word you’re likely to hear when chatting with friends.

What’s the longest English word you might actually use?

Enough of the chemical mumbo-jumbo! Unless you work for a lab or a dictionary, you’re not going to hear pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis or pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism any time soon. Our quest for the longest word you’re likely to hear in English continues.

What about the famous tongue-twister from Mary Poppins, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? Whether you see it, spell it, or say it, this word has 34 letters. Could be a strong contender as the longest word in English, right?

We’d love for this magical, musical word to be our winner, but it’s not really that meaningful, and you probably won’t hear it much either! So if you’re sticking to the rules, this one doesn’t cut it in the competition for the longest word.

🏆 In the 1990s, incomprehensibilities took the number one spot for the longest word in the English language. With twenty-one letters, incomprehensibilities is one of the longest English words in common usage.

Incomprehensibilities pronunciation:

 

The Shortest Longest Words in the World

Phew!

I bet you think you’ve seen it all now!

German beef labeling, Italian inside jokes, Danish fairy tales, and Welsh tongue-twisting towns. The longest words in the world really are the weirdest ones.

How about a little bit of relief from those long words?

Cleanse your palate (or brain?) with these short long words:

Longest one-syllable words

  • strengths (9 letters)
  • scrounged (9 letters)
  • schlepped (9 letters)
  • screeched (9 letters)
  • slapped (8 letters)
  • scratched (9 letters)
  • scrunched (9 letters)

Seems like those S-words might all have something in common!

These are all words that only have one syllable. We s-s-s-s-struggled to come up with any that didn’t start with S. Can you?

If you don’t think the longest single-syllable word is on our list, let us know in the comments!

Longest words with no vowels

Of course, it’s rare to find a word without a vowel. Unless you’re speaking Welsh, apparently! Here are the longest English words without vowels:

  • rhythms (7 letters)
  • spryly (6 letters) – this means to act quickly.
  • syzygy (6 letters) – we hadn’t heard of this one either! It has a few meanings, including a straight line of three or more celestial bodies in astronomy.

But wait – we know what you’re thinking. Doesn’t “y” sometimes count as a vowel? Here are some words without it:

  • tsktsk – the accepted spelling of the sound of disapproval
  • nth – the mathematical term for “the item at position n in a sequence”

Longest palindromes

A palindrome is a word that’s spelled the same way whether you read it forward or backward. As you might expect, these tend to be fairly short because of the extra requirements they have to fulfill. That said, there’s at least one 12-letter palindrome in the English dictionary:

  • tattarrattat – an onomatopoeia coined by James Joyce, so maybe this one belongs in the longest made-up word section…
  • detartrated – this 11-letter palindrome made the Guinness Book of World Records (the longest palindrome word in any language according to Guinness is “saippuakivikauppias,” a Finnish word for lye dealer).

The longest words you can type with one hand

For those of you who learned proper typing positions, you’ll know that these are harder to come up with than you might think! And they aren’t as fun to say as they are to type! Give these a try:

  • hypophillium = The longest word you can type with your right hand.
  • sweaterdresses = The longest word you can type with your left hand. But you’re supposed to type 15 letters with your left hand and just 11 with your right. So it’s a little unfair if you ask us. Another fun left-handed word is “abracadabra.”

So now you know! Not only are the Netherlands home to delicious stroopwaffels and winding canals, but they also have the longest common word in any language: meervoudigepersoonlijkheidsstoornissen!

Do you want to keep up with interesting language facts, tips, and tricks?

Check out the MosaLingua Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube channel for more! And don’t forget to leave us a comment below and let us know what you think of this list.

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