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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“I have seen a thousand graves opened, and always perceived that whatever was gone, the teeth and hair remained of those who had died with them. Is not this odd? They go the very first things in youth & yet last the longest in the dust.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
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—David Mamet, U.S. screenwriter, and Brian DePalma. Al Capone (Robert DeNiro)
“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)