Discover the Longest Italian Words (and the Runners-up!)

We all know that the Italian language is abundant in rich, complicated and, at times, convoluted words. Among them are also some very long words, the most difficult to memorise, although they are helped by a pleasant and fun melody.

longest italian words

What is the longest Italian word you know? It might be a word such as:

incredibilmenteQuesto gioco è incredibilmente difficile.
incredibly → This game is incredibly difficult.


fantasmagoricoLo spettacolo di ieri è stato fantasmagorico.
phantasmagorical → Yesterday’s show was phantasmagorical.


impressionanteNon ho mai visto qualcosa di così impressionante.
impressive → I’ve never seen something so impressive.


Or perhaps you even know:

Precipitevolissimevolmente which means “very very fast, in hurry”.


Very good skier during a carving curve

This, in reality, is still nothing in comparison with what the Italian dictionary is hiding amongst its pages. Are you ready to read the longest words in the Italian language?

Here we go:

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliofobia

Nonilfenossipolietilenossietanolo

Pentagonododecaedrico-tetraedrico

Psiconeuroendocrinoimmunologia

To tell the truth, these are very difficult terms even for a native speaker, both in terms of reading and comprehension and they are never used in everyday life. They are also very technical.

To end off, let’s talk about a curiosity of the Italian language that concerns the length of the words. An analysis of the Italian dictionary shows that the average length of a word is 9.7 letters and many are everyday terms.

Here are some examples of words with a length of 9 letters that we use every day:

ZafferanoIl risotto allo zafferano è molto buono.
SaffronSaffron risotto is very good.


PacchettoQuanti pacchetti mi hai spedito?
PackageHow many packages did you send me?


LabirintoQuesto giardino sembra un labirinto.
LabyrinthThis garden looks like a labyrinth.


the longest italian words

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