The longest word in the English language is made up of a whopping 43 letters.
Are you ready for it? Here it is: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis, the name of a lung disease that is the result of inhaling silica dust, such as from a volcano.
Don’t worry, no English native speaker will expect you to use this word in daily conversations or even essays! However, as any teacher would tell you, it is beneficial for your progress to challenge yourself by expanding your vocabulary with high-level words – including long words that may seem intimidating at first.
So, to help you get into the habit of enrichening your vocabulary, here are five long English words you can actually use:
Incomprehensibilities (21 letters)
The plural form of incomprehensibility, this noun is used for things or events that are difficult to understand because they are complex or shrouded in mystery. For example, the Bermuda Triangle and disappearance of flight MH370 are incomprehensibilities of the modern age that may never be solved. Or for some students, the incomprehensibilities of science and math made them choose a social science major.
Interdisciplinary (17 letters)
This adjective is often used in non-traditional schools to describe a new yet growing approach to education. An interdisciplinary method of teaching uses two or more different subjects to explore a concept, like government systems or humans’ impact on biodiversity. These concepts are then covered in, for example, art class, social science, language arts and mathematics. An increasing number of schools in big Indonesian cities are adopting the interdisciplinary philosophy.
Inconsequential (15 letters)
When something is inconsequential, it is meaningless or not important to you. For example, even in this digital age of (over) sharing, many people still believe that social media is inconsequential and refuse to join Instagram or Facebook. This is a great adjective to use when you want to emphasize just how little something means to you.
