How to Pronounce the Longest Word in English

You’ve probably seen it in a trivia book or a meme: a gigantic word that looks like someone fell asleep on the keyboard. Looking for how to pronounce longest word in English? Here’s the short answer first, and then we’ll break it down so you can actually say it.

Quick answer: The word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters, 19 syllables).
Say it like: noo-muh-noh-ul-truh-my-kruh-SKOP-ik-sil-ih-koh-vol-KAY-noh-koh-nee-OH-sis
IPA (US): /ˌnuːmənoʊˌʌltrəˌmaɪkrəˈskɑːpɪkˌsɪlɪkoʊvɑːlˌkeɪnoʊˌkoʊniˈoʊsɪs/

What is the longest word in English?

Honestly, it depends on what you count. There’s no single official answer, so here are the main contenders.

The 45-letter word is the one most often named as the longest in major English dictionaries. It was reportedly invented in the 1930s, so many people call it a “coined” word rather than an everyday one. Other claims exist, too. A chemical name for the protein titin is often quoted at nearly 190,000 letters, but it’s not generally treated as a real word.

For the longest words people actually use, you’ll find things like “internationalization” and “uncharacteristically,” both 20 letters. We’ll cover those further down.

How to pronounce longest word in English: step by step

Looking at 45 letters at once is overwhelming. The trick is to stop seeing one giant word and start seeing seven small ones. Each chunk comes from a real word part, which also makes it easier to remember.

Notice that the word begins with a silent P. “Pneumono-” starts with the same sound as “pneumonia,” /nuːˈmoʊniə/, so you say “noo,” not “puh-noo.” If silent letters trip you up, see our guide to silent letters in English.

Where does the stress go?

Long words have more than one strong syllable. The two main stresses fall on SKOP (in “scopic”) and OH (in “-osis”). The other chunks get lighter, secondary stress, and dictionaries mark these slightly differently, so don’t worry about tiny differences.

If you want to learn how stress works, our guide to word stress in English explains the rules.

Build it backwards

This is the best method for any long word. Instead of starting at the beginning, you start at the end and add one chunk at a time.

1. Say sis.
2. Add a chunk: OH-sis.
3. Add another: nee-OH-sis.
4. Then: koh-nee-OH-sis.
5. Then: KAY-noh-koh-nee-OH-sis.
6. Keep going until you reach the very start.

Say each line three times before adding the next. It sounds slow, but it works much better than trying to say the whole word at once, because the end of the word, which usually gets stumbled over, gets the most practice.

Want to hear how this sounds right now? Type any word into the Free Pronunciation Tool and listen to it in 4 accents.

The other famous long words

Once you can chunk one long word, the rest follow the same pattern.

The last one is a joke word, so there’s no single agreed pronunciation. Use the respelling as a guide, and chunk it the same way.

Long words people actually use

If you’d rather practise words you’ll meet in real life, try these.

Both follow the same rules. They’re split into chunks, they have a main stress, and the weak syllables shrink into a short /ə/. That weak sound is the schwa sound, and it’s the reason long words sound smoother in speech than they look on the page.

A 5-step method for any long word

1. Split it by meaning. Look for prefixes, roots and endings you already know, like “micro,” “volcano” or “-ation.”
2. Find the stress. Look up the IPA and find the ˈ mark. If IPA is new to you, see how to read IPA.
3. Build it backwards. Start from the last chunk and add one at a time.
4. Tap the rhythm. Tap lightly for each syllable and harder on the stressed ones. This keeps the beat steady.
5. Speed up slowly, then record. Say it slowly three times, then a little faster, then record yourself and compare with the audio.

You can hear any word in our pronunciation audio online tool, slow it down and check each chunk. For more tricky words, see our guide on how to pronounce English words online and our list of commonly mispronounced words.

Practise it in a sentence

Try saying this slowly, then at a normal pace:

“Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest word in many dictionaries.”

Then try the everyday version:

“It was uncharacteristically warm for the internationalization conference.”

If you stumble, go back to the chunks, fix the part that tripped you up and try again.

Mistakes to avoid

• Pronouncing the silent P. Say “noo,” not “puh-noo.”
• Speeding up too early. Slow and clear first, fast later.
• Putting stress on every chunk. Two strong syllables are enough.
• Starting from the beginning every time. Use the backwards method instead.
• Giving up after one try. Everyone stumbles at first, even on easier words.

Questions people ask

What is the longest word in English?

The 45-letter word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the one most often named as the longest in major dictionaries. Other contenders exist, depending on how you define a “word.”

How do you pronounce pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis?

Say it in seven chunks: noo-muh-noh, ul-truh, my-kruh, SKOP-ik, sil-ih-koh, vol-KAY-noh and koh-nee-OH-sis. Practise them one at a time, then join them.

How many syllables does the longest word have?

Nineteen.

What does the longest word mean?

It’s a lung disease caused by breathing in very fine silica dust.

Is it a real word?

It’s listed in several major dictionaries, but it was reportedly invented in the 1930s, and most people never use it. That’s why some people call it a “coined” word.

What’s the longest word people actually use?

It depends on the context, but words like “internationalization” and “uncharacteristically” are among the longest in everyday use.

Is the P in “pneumono” silent?

Yes. The word starts with the same “noo” sound as “pneumonia.”

Try it now

Open the tool, type “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis,” and listen to it three times. Then say the seven chunks out loud, one at a time. Once you can say them, join them and you’ll have said the longest word in English.

Want to hear how this sounds right now? Type any word into the Free Pronunciation Tool and listen to it in 4 accents.