19 Absurdly Long Words That Test Even the Biggest English Buffs in Arizona

Most Arizonans consider themselves proficient in English. Even so, we’re willing to bet that few of you can say these words out loud, let alone define some of them.

Polysyllabic and of complex pronunciation, these words are probably best left to the dictionary. But they’re still fun to read, unless you’re a hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobic, of course. 

1: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

A quick online search might tell you that pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis isn’t the longest possible word in English, but it is the longest word in most standard dictionaries.

The 45 letters refer to a lung disease that comes from inhaling fine quartz dust. 

2: Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia 

The thirty-six letters in hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia refer to a fear of long words.

Needless to say, the creators of this particular word were great fans of irony.  

3: Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism 

Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism has 30 letters.

It refers to a rare, inherited endocrine disorder. 

4: Methylenedioxymethamphetamine 

It’s unlikely you’ll hear the 29-letter word methylenedioxymethamphetamine used on the street.

Instead, most people call this mood-enhancing substance MDMA or ecstasy.  

5: Electroencephalographically

Electroencephalographically is a 27-letter word that describes the process of using a special apparatus to measure brain waves.

You may have heard of it as getting an EEG, for short. 

6: Radioimmunoelectrophoresis 

The 26 letters in radioimmunoelectrophoresis refer to a form of immunoelectrophoresis involving radioactive labels on antigens or antibodies.

If you’re wondering what immunoelectrophoresis is, don’t worry; it made the list, too. 

7: Immunoelectrophoretically

The word immunoelectrophoretically is 25 letters long.

It refers to the process of using immunoelectrophoresis, of course. 

8: Laryngotracheobronchitis

If you have laryngotracheobronchitis, you have inflammation of the larynx, trachea, and bronchi, which is far worse than running into this 24-letter word in a spelling bee. 

9: Pseudohypoparathyroidism

The 24 letters in pseudohypoparathyroidism come together to describe an inherited endocrine disease that’s more severe than pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism.

It resembles plain, old hypoparathyroidism, in case you were wondering.  

9: Hydrochlorofluorocarbon

Despite its 23 letters, hydrochlorofluorocarbon is a surprisingly simple type of gas.

It contains hydrogen, chlorine, fluorine, and carbon.

10: Counterrevolutionaries 

Counterrevolutionaries has 22 letters and is one of the few long-lettered English words that doesn’t refer to science or medicine.

Rather, it refers to people who participate in a revolution aimed at overthrowing a government established by a previous revolution. 

11: Deinstitutionalization 

The 22 letters in deinstitutionalization refer to the release of an institutionalized individual from institutional care, such as a psychiatric hospital.

It can also refer to the reform of an institution’s character to something more nontraditional. 

12: Otorhinolaryngological 

Otorhinolaryngological is a 22-letter word that refers to the medical specialty of otolaryngologists, also known as ear, nose, and throat doctors, or ENTs. 

13: Immunoelectrophoresis

Immunoelectrophoresis means the electrophoretic separation of proteins followed by their identification using the formation of precipitates, a process common in forensics and other scientific research.

It’s 21 letters long. 

14: Incomprehensibilities

Incomprehensibilities is 21 letters long and refers to things that are difficult, if not impossible, to understand.

We think it’s safe to say many of the words on this list fit that definition. 

15: Pseudohermaphroditism

In pseudohermaphroditism, a person has the gonads and karyotypes of one sex but the outward presentation of the other.

Pseudohermaphroditism is 21 letters long. 

16: Psychoneuroimmunology

The 21-letter long word, psychoneuroimmunology, refers to a branch of medicine that deals with emotional states and their effect on the nervous and immune systems.

Most often, researchers in this field are studying the effects of stress on disease progression.  

17: Tetrahydrocannabinols

Most people know the 21-letter long word, tetrahydrocannabinols, by its abbreviation, THC.

These are the psychoactive compounds found in the cannabis plant. 

18: Overcommercialization

Overcommercialization is a long word with a simple meaning.

The 21 letters in this word describe the condition of commercializing something to excess or being solely focused on something’s profitability.

19: Contemporaneousness 

Contemporaneousness is a 19-letter word that refers to the quality of being contemporaneous.

If two things are contemporaneous, they occur at the same time. 

Notable Mention

A 1,001-foot high hill in New Zealand has the longest name in the English-speaking world.

It’s Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenu-akitanatahu. Sometimes, locals refer to it as “Taumata,” for short. 

The Longest US Place Name 

In the US, the longest name of a geographic location belongs to a lake in Massachusetts.

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg has 53 letters if you include the word “lake.” 

The Word With 189,819 Letters

Technically, there is one very long English word that isn’t on this list. In reality, though, it’s less a word and more a string of letters that identifies a bunch of proteins.

It starts with methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminyl…and continues for another 50 pages of text. 

Famous Long (Non) Words  

Several extra-long English words aren’t really used other than to exemplify how long a word can be. Take supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, for example.

While impressive, words like this aren’t often in standard dictionaries. 

About Long Words