Buzz
Antidisestablishmentarianism, a beloved agglutinative term, became a cultural phenomenon on August 17, 1955, when Gloria Lockerman, a 12-year-old from Baltimore, spelled it correctly on The $64,000 Question, captivating millions of viewers. With 28 letters, this word—referring to a 19th-century British political movement opposing the disestablishment of the Church of England—remains the longest non-medical, non-invented, and non-technical term in English (though Merriam-Webster notes it’s rarely used beyond being "an exceptionally long word"). It stands alongside other remarkable examples. Below are some of the longest words categorized by type.
1. Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl ... isoleucine
Note the ellipses. The complete chemical name for the human protein titin spans 189,819 letters and requires approximately three-and-a-half hours to pronounce. The challenge with chemical names is their potential for infinite length. For instance, naming a single DNA molecule, with its countless repeating base pairs, could result in a name exceeding 1 billion letters.
2. Nirantarāndhakāritā … lokān
As per Guinness World Records, the longest word in any language is a "compound term consisting of 195 Sanskrit characters (translating to 428 Roman letters) that describes the area near Kanci, Tamil Nadu, India, featured in a 16th-century text by Tirumalãmbã, Queen of Vijayangara."
3. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
With 45 letters, this term holds the record for the longest defined word in major dictionaries. It refers to an exaggerated form of silicosis, a lung inflammation caused by inhaling fine silica dust. Despite its dictionary inclusion, it’s widely regarded as unnecessary, having been invented primarily to secure the title of the longest English word.
Although pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is frequently cited as the longest dictionary word, the matter isn’t so clear-cut. As Darryl Francis noted in a 1997 Word Ways article, dictionaries like the Oxford English Dictionary include not only defined words but also usage examples. For instance, under hamburger, there’s a 55-letter term: “porkchopbeefsteakhamandegghamburgersteakorliverandbacon.” Similarly, under journey, a 71-letter example from 1938 appears: “feeling-upset-physically-and-mentally-with-anticipatory-excitement-and/or-anxiety.” Francis also highlights a 100-character term under lincomycin, though it’s a chemical name. Thus, the longest dictionary word remains somewhat subjective.
4. Parastratiosphecomyia Stratioshecomyioides
The longest recognized animal binomial, spanning 42 letters, belongs to a species of soldier fly found in Thailand. Despite its lengthy name, the insect itself measures just over 10 millimeters in size.
5. Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
This 30-letter medical term holds the record as the longest non-invented word featured in a major dictionary.
6. Floccinaucinihilipilification
With one additional letter compared to antidisestablishmentarianism, this term claims the title of the longest non-technical English word. Composed of five Latin components, it denotes the act of deeming something as worthless or insignificant. While it earned a place in the Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster dismisses it as linguistic trivia, refusing to acknowledge its validity.
7. Subdermatoglyphic
At 17 characters, this word is often hailed as the longest isogram, where each letter appears only once. It describes the intricate dermal layer that shapes the unique patterns of whorls, arches, and ridges in our fingerprints.
8. Squirrelled
While the American English variant typically uses a single L, the double-L version is fully accepted. In certain accents, it’s pronounced as a single syllable, potentially making it the longest non-invented monosyllabic English word at 11 letters.
9. Transtendinous
If you're undergoing a procedure that involves passing through a tendon, you might encounter the term transtendinous. Alternatively, at a lexicographers conference, this 14-letter word could be highlighted for its unique feature: it uses all five vowels in order exactly once. However, since transtendinous and the similarly 14-letter lamelligomphus (a dragonfly genus) haven’t yet entered the prestigious pages of major dictionaries, you might prefer the 12-letter words abstemiously and affectiously, both of which include a satisfying Y. A notable mention goes to uncomplimentary, which, at 15 letters, arranges all five vowels in reverse alphabetical order.
10. Tattarrattat
This 12-letter term, created by James Joyce in Ulysses, signifies the sound of knocking on a door and is arguably the longest palindromic word in English.
Joyce was known for inventing peculiar words that never gained widespread use. A more practical contender for the longest non-invented palindrome in major dictionaries is the nine-letter Malayalam, a Dravidian language spoken in parts of India. (Another option, detartrated, appears in some chemical and older food science texts but is seldom found in dictionaries.)
11. and 12. Euouae and Psst
Euouae and psst hold the distinction of being the longest words in major dictionaries composed entirely of vowels or consonants, respectively. Euouae, a term from medieval music, originally served as a mnemonic but has since been recognized as a standalone word.
Regarding the longest word without vowels, Guinness World Records awards the title to twyndyllyngs, the plural of a rare 15th-century term meaning “twin.” However, as Y can function as a vowel, this claim is debated.
Some suggest cwtch (cupboard/hiding place or a special hug) or crwth (a type of musical instrument) as contenders, but in these cases, the W acts as a vowel, as it often does in Welsh, their language of origin. For a word with neither a vowel letter nor a vowel sound, psst is the strongest candidate, fully acknowledged in the Oxford English Dictionary.
