If you take a tour of the English language, you can find some unbelievably long words like antidisestablishmentarianism, pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism, and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. As long as these words are, they have got nothing on the longest words you’ll find in some of the world’s languages. If you find that hard to believe, you should know that the list you are about to read includes words like kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamhedenplan and miinibaashkiminasiganibiitoosijiganibadagwiingweshiganibakwezhigan. You have been warned!
⚡️ Quiz yourself on the longest words
Longing for a challenge? Once you’ve reviewed these exceptional (and exceptionally long) words from around the world, head directly to our quiz and see how much you’ve learned!
Before we begin our list, we wanted to make one clarification. In many languages, including several that will appear on this list, it is possible to make incredibly long compound words by attaching smaller words together. In theory, many languages can make words that go on indefinitely by making a nonsensical compound word made of an infinite number of smaller words. For our list, we wanted to only include words that actually make sense or have been used in written text. Let’s start with…
Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl…
The chemical name for the protein titin, which spans over 189 thousand letters, is often argued to be the longest word in the world. Its absurd length is due to the fact that proteins are named by combining the names of all of the individual amino acids used to form them. In the case of titin, its scientific name takes over three and a half hours to say out loud. Still, many people refuse to accept it as the world’s longest word because it is a scientific name.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Language: English
In most English dictionaries, the word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest one you are going to find at a whopping 45 letters long. This word refers to a lung disease caused by silica dust.
For the rest of our words, we’ll venture outside the English language to look at some of the longest words you’ll find around the world.
निरन्तरान्धकारित-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
Language: Sanskrit
This word that consists of 195 Sanskrit characters appears in Varadāmbikā Pariṇaya Campū (1970). It is often said to be the longest word ever recorded in literature. When translated, this word results in a very long sentence describing the natural beauty of the Tamil Nadu region of India:
“In it, the distress, caused by thirst, to travelers 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 Andropogon muricatus 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.”
Please, don’t quiz us on that one!
Many English words come from Sanskrit. Read about 17 of them here.
Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
Language: German
If you consult a German dictionary, the longest word you are likely to find is Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung, which translates to “motor car liability insurance.”
However, you can find even longer compound words if you’re willing to comb through legislation. One example is the word Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz, which translates to “beef labeling supervision duties delegation law.”
Kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamhedenplan
Language: Dutch
Like German, the Dutch language is capable of forming some monstrous words through compounding. If you look in a dictionary, the longest word you are likely to find is meervoudigepersoonlijkheidsstoornis, meaning “multiple personality disorder.”
If you look at Dutch legislation, you’ll find even longer words like kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamhedenplan, which translates to “preparation activities for a children’s carnival procession.”
Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas
Language: Finnish
Finnish is yet another language capable of creating absurdly long words using compounds. This mouthful is a military term that means “airplane jet turbine motor assistant mechanic non-commissioned officer-in-training.”
Esternocleidooccipitomastoideos
Language: Spanish
This Spanish medical term refers to muscles in the neck and is most likely going to be the longest word you’ll find in a Spanish dictionary.
Sünnipäevanädalalõpupeopärastlõunaväsimatus
Language: Estonian
Our word party rages on as we locate the longest word you’ll find in the Estonian language. According to one translation, this umlaut-heavy word describes the “energy on Sunday evening after a birthday celebration that lasted the whole weekend.” (Noting this one for future use.)
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Language: Welsh
In Welsh, the longest word you’ll often find in a dictionary is cyfrwngddarostyngedigaeth, which roughly translates to “intercession.”
If you allow for place names in your increasingly long list of long words, then it is hard to top the Welsh village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. However, this name is basically cheating when it comes to lists like this because it was intentionally designed to be absurdly long for tourism reasons. Speaking of long place names…
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu
Language: Maori
This name comes from the Maori language and refers to a hill located in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. At 85 characters long, this name is often considered to be one of the longest place names in the world.
Miinibaashkiminasiganibiitoosijiganibadagwiingweshiganibakwezhigan
Language: Ojibwe
This deliciously long word comes from the Ojibwe language. So, what does it mean? Blueberry pie. Yum!
Read about words that originate from different Indigenous languages.
Pinakanakakapagngitngitngitngitang-pagsisinungasinungalingan
Language: Tagalog
This 59-letter word is said to be the longest published word in the Tagalog language. Like several other words on this list, this one was intentionally created to be absurdly long. Roughly translated, this word means “lying that causes the most extreme anger.”
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine
Language: Turkish
This juggernaut of a word is said to be the longest word ever used in a Turkish publication. This word is the result of adding a bunch of suffixes to the Turkish word muvaffakiyet, meaning “success.” This word roughly translates to “As though you are from those whom we may not be able to easily make into a maker of unsuccessful ones.”
Tweedehandsemotorverkoopsmannevakbondstakingsvergaderingsameroeperstoespraakskrywerspersverklaringuitreikingsmediakonferensieaankondiging
Language: Afrikaans
This word comes from Afrikaans. Like Dutch, Afrikaans can be used to create absurdly long words by compounding them together. When translated, this word is said to mean “issuable media conference’s announcement at a press release regarding the convener’s speech at a secondhand car dealership union’s strike meeting.”
And we’ve all been complaining about how tricky English can be!
λοπαδοτεμαχοσελαχογαλεοκρανιολειψανοδριμυποτριμματοσιλφιοκαραβομελιτοκατακεχυμενοκιχλεπικοσσυφοφαττοπεριστεραλεκτρυονοπτοκεφαλλιοκιγκλοπελειολαγῳοσιραιοβαφητραγανοπτερύγων
Language: Ancient Greek
This ridiculous ancient Greek word was invented by the playwright Aristophanes, sometimes known as the “Father of Comedy.” This unnecessarily long word refers to a fictional dish that is made of a variety of animal parts. When transliterated into the Latin alphabet, this tasty meal appears as Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon.
At 183 characters long, this word is also one of the longest words ever used in literature.
