The longest word in the English language

Have you ever asked yourself ‘what is the longest word in the English language?’ We’ve done our research to answer this one.

We’ve struck out chemical names based on the endless number of proteins, some over 1,000 letters each. Neither will we include place names due to their coinage.

They’re governed under different rules like the Thai name for Bangkok: Krungthepmahanakonbowornratanakosinmahintarayudyayamahadiloponoparatanarajthaniburiromu
domrajniwesmahasatarnamornpimarnavatarsatitsakattiyavisanukamphrasit. It’s so long we had to split it over two lines but most people call it Krungthep for short!

The longest word in English (also coined) that we found is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. It has 45 letters. It’s technically a letter-by-letter transcription of a Greek word for a type of lung disease, from inhaling sand dust and very fine ash.

Furthermore, the longest non-devised word in the dictionary is pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism and it has 30 letters. It’s a variation of the disorder known as pseudohypoparathyroidism.

Following scientific and technical names, our searches led us to the longest non-technical word we found in English – floccinaucinihilipilification – a 29-letter word and a direct derivative from Latin. Floccinaucinihilipilification is the act or habit of estimating something as valueless.

Antidisestablishmentarianism, a tongue-twister, is commonly quoted as one of the longest words in the English language. It also has 29 letters.

Although another famous word containing caught our attention, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. This 34-letter gem rounds it off. Thank you Mary Poppins!

Source: Primer Magazine