Do You Want to Know the Longest Word in the World?

 

It might surprise you but one of the longest words in the world is not some obscure scientific term or difficult philosophical concept. It’s actually “antidisestablishmentarianism”!

At 28 letters long, this word is a mouthful! But what does it mean?

The word “antidisestablishmentarianism” was first used in 1828 by English politician and theologian Lord John Russell. It is a compound word formed from the Latin prefix “ante” (before) and the English word “disestablishment” (the act of dissolving an established church).

So, “antidisestablishmentarianism” can be translated as “the belief that it is desirable to maintain the established church in its present form”.

In today’s society, the word “antidisestablishmentarianism” has mostly fallen out of use. But it still remains an important part of English history and culture. And who knows? It might one day be resurrected to describe a new political movement or social trend!

What about the longest words in English that are still being used?

“Floccinaucinihilipilification”, “antidisestablishmentarianism”, and “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” are all in the top 10!

Do you want to find out where they rank? Just keep reading, because it’s time for our word countdown.

Top 10 Longest Words in English Still in Use!

• “Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylalanyl…isoleucine”

The chemical name of a protein called Titlin has 189,819 letters. It is the longest word known in English and attempting to say its name can take anywhere between 2 to 3.5 hours.

The chemical composition of this protein is:

This word mentions ‘methionyl’ 337 times, ‘theronyl’ 2,083 times, ‘glutaminyl’ 724 times, ‘alanyl’ 1,632 times, ‘prolyl’ 1,834 times, and so on.

• “Methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamyl…serine”

The second-longest word is again a chemical name of E. coli TrpA (P0A877) – the Tryptophan synthase alpha chain of the gene trpA of the bacterium called Escherichia coli. It has 1,909 letters.

The full name is:

This enzyme has 267 amino acids.

• “Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsano…pterygon”

Breaking away from long exhausting chemical names, this one is a fictional dish to be ever coined by an author. It has 183 letters. It is a transliteration of an ancient Greek word and the longest word ever to appear in the literature (according to Guinness World Records 1990). The full word is:

“Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon”

The word mentions fish, flesh, fowl, sauces, and many kinds of dainties.

• “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis”

This word consists of 45 letters and is the longest accepted English word with all its letters in alphabetical order!

It’s a lung disease that can be caused by inhaling very fine ash or sand dust, which are produced during volcanic eruptions.

You might recognize the first 4 letters of this word. They are also found in “pneumonia” which is a lung disease associated with fever, chest pain and coughing.

• “Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia”

This 35-letter member of our list means fear of long words. What an irony!

“Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia” is a neologism, a word that people have invented to name a concept that wasn’t previously described by any word in a language.

• “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”

This word from the “Mary Poppins” movie consists of 34 letters and means “extremely good”.

It is the longest word in English that can be spelt without repeating a letter.

• “Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism”

This medical term consists of 30 letters and means the condition of having too much parathyroid hormone in the body.

The word “pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism” is a combination of “pseudo” (false) and “hypoparathyroidism” (a condition that results in low levels of parathyroid hormone).

• “Floccinaucinihilipilification”

This 29-letter word has been deemed as the longest English word that can be effectively used in casual speech! It is defined as “the estimation of something as valueless”.

• “Antidisestablishmentarianism”

The 28-letter word was introduced by John Russell in 1828 and means “the belief that it is desirable to maintain the established church in its present form”.

Today, antidisestablishmentarianism is considered an important part of English history and culture.

• “Honorificabilitudinitatibus”

It is the longest word that appeared in Shakespeare’s works. It has 27 letters and means “The state of someone that can achieve honours”. It is also the longest word in the English language that uses consonants and vowels alternatively.

Fun Facts about the Longest Words in English

• Did you know James Joyce coined 9 100-letter words and one 101-letter word in his book ‘Finnegans Wake’? The most famous one is:

“Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk”

It appears on the first page of the book and represented the lightning and thunderclap associated with the fall of Adam and Eve.

Other words coined in this book were:

• “Perkodhuskurunbarggruauyagokgorlayorgromgremmitghundhurthrumathunaradidillifaititillibumullunukkunun” to denote the sound of thunder.
• “Klikkaklakkaklaskaklopatzklatschabattacreppycrottygraddaghsemmihsammihnouithappluddyappladdypkonpkot” to denote clapping sounds.
• “Bladyughfoulmoecklenburgwhurawhorascortastrumpapornanennykocksapastippatappatupperstrippuckputtanach” for “whore”.
• “Thingcrooklyexineverypasturesixdixlikencehimaroundhersthemaggerbykinkinkankanwithdownmindlookingated”
• “Lukkedoerendunandurraskewdylooshoofermoyportertooryzooysphalnabortansporthaokansakroidverjkapakkapuk” means “shut the door”.
• “Bothallchoractorschumminaroundgansumuminarumdrumstrumtruminahumptadumpwaultopoofoolooderamaunsturnup”
• “Pappappapparrassannuaragheallachnatullaghmonganmacmacmacwhackfalltherdebblenonthedubblandaddydoodled”
• “Husstenhasstencaffincoffintussemtossemdamandamnacosaghcusaghhobixhatouxpeswchbechoscashlcarcarcaract” to denote the sound of “cough”.
• “Ullhodturdenweirmudgaardgringnirurdrmolnirfenrirlukkilokkibaugimandodrrerinsurtkrinmgernrackinarockar” means “Norse gods”. This one is 101 word long.

These words are commonly used though, thank God!

• The longest words typable with only the left hand on the QWERTY keyboard (if you place your fingers conventionally) are:
• “tesseradecades” which means “a group of fourteen”. It contains 14 letters too!
• “aftercataracts” which means “a clouding of the lens capsule in the pupil of the eye following an operation for cataract removal”. It contains 14 letters.

You can type “sweaterdresses” too but it is sometimes hyphenated. It also contains 14 letters.

• The longest words typable with only the right hand on the QWERTY keyboard (if you place your fingers conventionally) are:
• “monimolimnion” which means “the lower, denser, non-circulating layer of a meromictic lake”. It contains 13 letters.
• “phyllophyllin” is a chemical name and means “a monocarboxylic acid derivative of chlorophyll”. It also contains 13 letters.

You can type ” johnny-jump-up” which is hyphenated. It also contains 12 letters.

• One of the weirdest words in English is “eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious”. It is an obscure word for “good”. Supposedly, the word appeared in Maurice Weseen’s ‘Dictionary of American Slang’ and it was presumably used by youth as a part of a secret language.

Pretty sure, most students will be happy to know that this 30-letter word is not used anymore. ‘Good’ works just for us, don’t you agree?

• The longest word without a vowel is “nymphly” which means “nymph-like”. It has seven letters. If you count plurals too, then two more 7-letter words can join this list:
• “glycyls” which means “amino acid residues of glycine”
• “rhythms” which means “strong, regular, repeated patterns of movement or sound”
• We have many chemical names on this list already. Here’s one more. The full form of DDT is “dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane”. It has 31 letters!
• “Electroencephalographically” means “by means of an electroencephalograph – a medical device that records brain activity”. Medical terminology and scientific names are often quite long. This one contains 27 letters.
• How many words can you think about without the vowel ‘e’? The longest one is “transubstantiationalist” which contains 23 letters. It means “Roman Catholics who believe that the bread and wine change to the flesh and blood of Christ during the Eucharist”. Remember that when you are playing Scrabble!
• The longest word that uses only vowels is “euouae” – a mnemonic used in medieval music. It contains six vowels used consecutively.
• If you are looking for words using x, y, and z in alphabetical order, pick up a Chemistry book. All the words using ‘oxy’ somewhere can be helpful. Here are some that our Chemistry assignment writers often use:
• “oxygenize” which means “enrich with oxygen”
• “deoxygenize” which means “to remove molecular oxygen”
• “methoxybenzene” which is “the chemical composition of Anisole – an organic compound whose derivatives are often found in natural and artificial fragrances”
• “oxyphenbutazone” which is “a phenylbutazone derivative. It was used as an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) earlier but was withdrawn from the marks in the mid-1980s because of its risks”

How GoAssignmentHelp helps you with using the right words for your academic paper?

• Our assignment writers have years of experience in writing high-quality papers for our students. They suggest that many students make the mistake of using many simple terms in their writing. It gives an ‘elementary’ feel to their writing. While longer, more complex words are not necessarily better than short and simple ones, a good academic paper uses concise and varied language.

For example: Instead of ‘bad result’ you can say ‘ poor result’.

Some other words that sound better in an academic paper are:

1. Big sample: Large sample
2. Gets attention: Receives attention
3. Gives an overview: Presents/Provides an overview
4. Good example: Prime example
5. Below figure shows: Below figure illustrates/demonstrates

• They also suggest you replace phrasal verbs with one-word alternatives.

For example, you can replace ‘add up’ with ‘calculate’. Here’s how you can use it in a sentence:

‘Riley added up the number of marks in the English paper’ can be changed to ‘Riley calculated the number of marks in the English paper’.

Here is a quick table of 10 most-common phrasal verbs students use and their one-word alternatives:

1. buy out: purchase
2. call off: cancel
3. carry on: continue
4. carry out: execute
5. find out: discover
6. get over with: complete
7. get across: communicate
8. hold up: delay
9. leave out: omit
10. pass out (surveys, samples, etc.): distribute

• Using vague terms can make your academic paper sound imprecise. Hence, GoAssignmentHelp online academic reviewing experts always recommend students to be as specific as possible.

For example:

1. Instead of ‘stuff’, you should use specific terms like ‘belongings’ or ‘personal effects’ or ‘concepts.
2. Instead of ‘things’, you might write ‘details’, ‘findings’, ‘recommendations’, etc.
3. Instead of ‘a long time’, it’s always better to mention how much time, such as ‘for 33 years’ or ‘for seven weeks’.

If you need help with writing creative and interesting papers, our experts are always available to assist you. Place your order now and let us help you get high grades!