The longest words in French

Do you suffer from being hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobique?

That’s French for ‘fear of long words’. It’s also, incidentally, one of the longest words in the French language.

This blog takes a look at the longest words in French. Chances are you’ll never use these words, or see them written down - and you’re even less likely to hear them spoken aloud - but knowing them is a fun way to make an impression on French and non-French speakers alike, as well as a way to amuse yourself with the quirks of the French language. But if you are hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobique, best look away now!

Note that this isn't strictly a list of the very longest words in French. Even the Dictionnaire de l'Académie française excludes extremely obscure or scientific words, which tend to take the top spot in these lists. The full chemical name for titin, for example, which is a kind of muscle protein, is 189,819 letters long. We haven't included that, for obvious reasons, but we've included a selection of words that you just might come across in your study of the French language - although no one is expecting you to know any of these words!

• hippopotomonstrosesquipédaliophobie - Fear of long words.

• dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane - An insecticide that was formerly used in agriculture. Its poisonous effects were made common knowledge by the success of Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, after which it stopped being used, and survives as one of the longest words in both French and English.

• hexakosioihexekontahexaphobie - Fear of the number 666 (six cent soixante-six). Anyone learning French can sympathise with a fear of French numbers (especially those that come after 70), but this word refers specifically to the number of the Devil (although there is some debate as to whether the real number is 616 (six cent seize)).

• heptathalassoédimbourgeoises (feminine plural) - Inhabitants of Edimbourg-des-sept-mers, known as Edinburgh of the Seven Seas in English. This village is slightly sunnier than its namesake, and is located on the land of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic Ocean.

• psychopharmacothérapeutique - Treatment of psychological disorders with the use of medication.

• intergouvernementalisation - This word refers to the implementation of policies shared between multiple governments.

• interdépartementalisation - Similar to intergouvernementalisation, this word refers to the cooperation between départements, which are French administrative units.
• anticonstitutionnellement - Meaning anti-constitutional, this adjective is sometimes employed to describe actions which contradict the spirit of the French constitution.