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Top 12 Longest Words in English Language

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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.

Longest English Word

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 withdraws 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 word 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 great or 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’, originated from the Latin incomprehensibilis: in- (“not”) and comprehensibilis.

Subdermatoglyphic

The word represents a specific state. It stands for pertaining to 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 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 Long 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

The Bottom Line

Basically, 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. At greatassignmenthelp.com, we have several talented online English assignment helpers to assist you in exploring the beauty of the language. Especially, by taking assistance from them you can learn the language better and as well finish any type of English assignment before the deadline.

Jacob Smith Assignment Writing Reading Time: 6 minutes

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