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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—Julian Mitchell (20th century)
“Out in Hollywood, where the streets are paved with Goldwyn, the word “sophisticate” means, very simply, “obscene.” A sophisticated story is a dirty story. Some of that meaning was wafted eastward and got itself mixed up into the present definition. So that a “sophisticate” means: one who dwells in a tower made of a DuPont substitute for ivory and holds a glass of flat champagne in one hand and an album of dirty post cards in the other.”
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967)
“Six hours for a man, seven for a woman, and eight for a fool.”
—18th-century English proverb.