The identity of the longest word in English depends upon the definition of what constitutes a word in the English language, as well as how length should be compared. In addition to words derived naturally from the language's roots (without any known intentional invention), English allows new words to be formed by coinage and construction; place names may be considered words; technical terms may be arbitrarily long. Length may be understood in terms of orthography and number of written letters, or (less commonly) phonology and the number of phonemes.
| Word | Letters | Characteristics | Dispute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl...isoleucine | 189,819 | Chemical name of titin, the largest known protein | Technical; not in dictionary; disputed whether it is a word |
| Methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamyl...serine | 1,909 | Longest published word | Technical |
| Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsano...pterygon | 183 | Longest word coined by a major author, the longest word ever to appear in literature. | Coined; not in dictionary; Ancient Greek transliteration |
| Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis | 45 | Longest word in a major dictionary | Technical; coined to be the longest word |
| Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious | 34 | Famous for being created for the Mary Poppins film and musical | Coined |
| Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism | 30 | Longest non-coined word in a major dictionary | Technical |
| Floccinaucinihilipilification | 29 | Longest unchallenged nontechnical word | Coined |
| Antidisestablishmentarianism | 28 | Longest non-coined and nontechnical word | |
| Honorificabilitudinitatibus | 27 | Longest word in Shakespeare's works; longest word in the English language featuring alternating consonants and vowels. | Latin |
Read more about Longest Word In English: Major Dictionaries, Coinages, Constructions, Technical Terms, Place Names, Words With Certain Characteristics of Notable Length, Humour
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“Success four flights Thursday morning all against twenty one mile wind started from Level with engine power alone speed through air thirty one miles longest 57 second inform Press home Christmas.”
—Orville Wright (1871–1948)
“When ... did the word “temperament” come into fashion with us?... whatever it stands for, it long since became a great social asset for women, and a great social excuse for men. Perhaps it came in when we discovered that artists were human beings.”
—Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1879–1944)
“Forget all feuds, and shed one English tear
O’er English dust. A broken heart lies here.”
—Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859)