Can a word be so long that it takes more than a minute to say it? It’s definitely possible—and, in some cases, one minute is just getting started!
The longest words in the world range from names of committees to medical conditions, and everything in between. So, what is the longest word in the world? Follow our guide to the world’s longest words, what languages they’re in, and whether you can plan on seeing them in everyday conversation. (Hint: Probably not.)
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What is the longest word in the world?
According to the Guinness World Records, the longest word in the world is a 195-character Sanskrit word from the 15th-century work titled Varadambika Parinaya.
The entire word looks like this in Sanskrit:
निरन्तरान्धकारिता-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
Like many of the longest words in the world, the translation of this Sanskrit word is very specific and very uncommon. It means:
“In it, the distress, caused by thirst, to travellers was alleviated by clusters of rays of the bright eyes of the girls; the rays that were shaming the currents of light, sweet and cold water charged with the strong fragrance of cardamom, clove, saffron, camphor and musk and flowing out of the pitchers (held in) the lotus-like hands of maidens (seated in) the beautiful water-sheds, made of the thick roots of mixed with marjoram, (and built near) the foot, covered with heaps of couch-like soft sand, of the clusters of newly sprouting mango trees, which constantly darkened the intermediate space of the quarters, and which looked all the more charming on account of the trickling drops of the floral juice, which thus caused the delusion of a row of thick rainy clouds, densely filled with abundant nectar.” -Guinness World Records
Explore a list of the world’s longest words
Although 195 characters is hard to beat in the contest of the world’s longest words, some words in other languages come close. Some of the most spoken languages in the world include words with over 50 characters.
| Word | Characters | Language | Translation |
| kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamhedencomitéleden | 70 | Dutch | children’s carnival parade preparation work committee members |
| muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine | 70 | Turkish | as if you were one of those whom we may not be able to easily convert into a maker of unsuccessful ones |
| donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft | 63 | German | Association for Subordinate Officials of the Head Office Management of the Danube Steamboat Electrical Services |
| lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas | 61 | Finnish | aircraft jet engine assistant mechanic non-commissioned officer cadet |
| megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért | 44 | Hungarian | for your continued behavior, acting as if you could not be desecrated |
| anticonstitutionnellement | 25 | French | unconstitutionally |
| electroencefalografía | 21 | Spanish | electroencephalography |
While German may not have the longest word in the world, there are many long German words. Learn a few to impress your German-speaking friends (and to add a lot of detail to your conversations!)
What are the longest words in English?
English has its share of long words, too. From famous musicals to political revolutions, you’ll find that the longest words in English may be just words you’ve actually used before!
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
The 45-letter word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (pronounced NOO-muh-noh-uhl-truh-mahy-kruh-skop-ik-SIL-i-koh-vol-key-noh-koh-nee-OH-sis) is considered by most dictionaries to be one of the longest English words. It’s the name of a lung disease.
Like many medical terms used in English, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis incorporates both Greek and Latin roots and affixes.
- pneumono: relating to the lungs
- ultra: very
- microscopic: small-looking
- silico: sand-like
- volcano: volcanic matter
- coniosis: inflammation from dust
When you put these roots together, you get a lung inflammation disease resulting from very small, sand-like volcanic dust.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
In the ultimate twist of fate, the English word hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (hi-puh-paa-tuh-muhn-strow-suh-skwipt-a-lee-oh-FOH-bee-uh) means a fear of long words, especially words with many syllables. With 36 letters and 14 syllables, it’s possible that the name of the phobia may be the most alarming part of it!
When you break down hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, you get:
- hippopoto: like a hippopotamus
- monstro: like a monster
- sesquipedalia: long words (literally “a foot and a half long”)
- phobia: fear
You could probably cut it down to sesquipedalophobia, but hippopotomonstro gives the word a big and scary feeling.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
If you think that the 34-letter supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (soo-per-kal-uh-fraj-uh-lis-tik-ek-spee-al-i-DOH-shuhs) is just a nonsense word from Mary Poppins (1964), you’re partially right. But now that supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is in the dictionary, it officially counts as one of the longest words in English!
You can even break it down into parts, although its parts are as nonsensical as its meaning:
- super: above or wonderful
- cali: beautiful
- fragilistic: discussing the quality of being fragile
- expiali: making amends
- docious: able to be educated
Since supercalifragilisticexpialidocious refers to things that are great and enjoyable, and the meaning comes from its first two roots, super and cali. The rest of it is just fun to say!
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Although intimidating to say out loud, the 29-letter word floccinaucinihilipilification
(flok-suh-naw-suh-nahy-hil-uh-pil-uh-fi-KEY-shuhn) is the act of deciding that something is worthless. You’re not likely to see it in everyday conversation, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start using it now!
Breaking down floccinaucinihilipilification looks like this:
- flocci: a tuft of wool
- nauci: having little value
- nihili: nothing
- pili: insignificant
- fication: the act or process
Most of the roots in floccinaucinihilipilification relate to having little worth, with the whole word referring to the act of rendering something as insignificant.
Antidisestablishmentarianism
A famous example of one of the longest words in English, antidisestablishmentarianism (an-tee-dis-uh-stab-lish-muhn-TAIR-ee-uh-niz-uhm) means “the position of being opposed to breaking away from an establishment.” While it’s not included in the Merriam-Webster dictionary for lack of historical usage, it’s still a descriptive way to explain a very specific stance
The roots of antidisestablishmentarianism mean:
- anti: against
- dis: un
- establishment: an organization
- arian: person related to
- ism: belief
In 19th-century Britain, antidisestablishmentarianism meant “being opposed to changing the Anglican Church as the official state church.” Today, it might refer to a person who’d rather not alter the status quo, while someone who supports disestablishmentarianism might want to change things up.
Incomprehensibility
Unlike the other long English words on the list, the 19-character word incomprehensibility (in-KAHM-pre-hens-ih-bil-ih-tees) is something you might hear from time to time! It’s one of the longest words we use in modern conversation, and it means a state of being unable to understand.
Broken down, incomprehensibility looks like this:
- in: not
- comprehens: understanding
- ibility: the state
Based on the length of a few of the words you’ve read here, you may marvel at the incomprehensibility of language from time to time!
What word takes three hours to say?
Some long English words describe chemical compounds, such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene or dimethoxytetraglycol. But none are longer than methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylalanyl…isoleucine, which is so long that it’s usually used with an ellipsis in the middle.
The whole word is 189,819 letters long and stretches across 42 full pages. If you started reading from the beginning, it would take you over three hours to read the entire word!
Why are some words so long?
Languages with long words often have a word structure (known as morphology) that allows words to change meaning when you make them longer. For example, agglutinative languages, such as Turkish, Hungarian, and Finnish, add morphemes to a root to change the meaning of the word. Many agglutinative languages have no limit to how many morphemes they can add, so their words can become quite long!
Other languages are fusional, meaning that they have the ability to combine words and use affixes to make very large compound words. German, Dutch, Greek. and Latin-based Romance languages like Spanish and French follow this morphology with prefixes, suffixes, compound words, and inflections (changing word endings).
Why doesn’t English have many long words?
English includes both agglutinative and fusional elements. You may have noticed that the list of the longest words in English was mainly based on fusional Greek and Latin affixes and roots (including pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis and antidisestablishmentarianism). Words that come from fusional Old English also use inflections to change meaning.
But modern English is less fusional and more analytic, meaning that it relies more on word order to express meaning. Unless you count the modern word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, of course!
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