Published
Do you know what pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis means? Well, this guy does!
Michael Bryan, 16, used the word at a Youth Select Committee meeting in July, when talking about money spent on mental health.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is "an invented long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust".
Want to use a fancy word like this to impress your friends and family? Newsround has got you covered...
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Word: Sesquipedalian
Means: Loving of long words
Pronounced: Sess-kwi-peh-day-leean
Sentence to use it in: As someone who is quite sesquipedalian, I make it my mission to use loads of long words in all my conversations.
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Word: Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobic
Means: Someone with a fear of long words
Pronounced: Hippoh-poh-toh-mon-stroh-sess-kwi-ped-ah-lee-oh-foe-bik
Sentence to use it in: Any hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobics are going to really hate me with my new vocabulary.
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Word: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Means: It is the name of a Welsh village and is the longest place name in the UK!
Pronounced: Llan-vire-pooll-gwin-gill-goh-gare-uh-win-drorb-ooll-llanty-sillyoh-gohgohgoh
Sentence to use it in: Fancy a trip to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch this summer?
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Word: Floccinaucinihilipilification
Means: The act of deciding that something is worthless. This is one of the longest words in the English language, so any sesquipedalian would be wise to know this one.
Pronounced: flok-sih-naw-kinih-hillih-pillih-fik-ay-shun
Sentence to use it in: I am very offended by my friend's floccinaucinihilipilification of my amazing new vocabulary.
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Word: Facetiously
Means: If you do something facetiously, you are deliberately treating something that is perhaps quite serious with inappropriate jokes or humour. It's a great word because it has every single vowel - and the semi-vowel 'y' - just once!
Pronounced: fah-see-shush-lee
Sentence to use it in: You should never behave facetiously when it comes to important and serious matters such as the use of fancy words.
Word: Antidisestablishmentarianism
Means: This originally meant when people were against the removal of the Church of England's status, but now it can be used to refer to a movement against the government taking away their support for a particular church or religion.
Pronounced: anti-dis-est-ab-lish-men-tare-rian-ism
Sentence to use it in: Did you know that antidisestablishmentarianism was left out of the 10th edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary by mistake? No, but you do now.
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Word: Quintessential
Means: The perfect example of something
Pronounced: Kwin-teh-sen-shul
Sentence to use it in: I am a quintessential sesquipedalian.
Word: Boondoggle
Means: Work that you do just so that you look busy, but it isn't actually useful.
Pronounced: As it looks - this one's not too tricky to pronounce!
Sentence to use it in: You might think my mission to learn more long words is a complete boondoggle, but it's actually extremely interesting.
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Word: Circumlocution
Means: The use of lots of words where fewer words would actually do the job.
Pronounced: Sir-cum-loh-cue-shun
Sentence to use it in: My love of circumlocution means you may think my sentences are unnecessarily long - but I would disagree.
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Word: Gasconade
Means: To extravagantly boast
Pronounced: Gas-con-ayde
Sentence to use it in: I don't like to gasconade, but my vocabulary after reading this article is quite exceptional.
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Word: Brobdingnagian
Means: Huge or gigantic. It has a capital letter as the word comes from the name of a land in Gulliver's Travels where everything is enormous.
Pronounced: Brob-ding-nag-ian
Sentence to use it in: I have a vocabulary of Brobdingnagian proportions!
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Word: Lateritious
Means: All this word means is brick-red in colour... But it's a much funnier way of saying it!
Pronounced: Lat-er-rih-shush
Sentence to use it in: I am a huge fan of your lateritious T-shirt.
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Word: Discombobulate
Means: To confuse (someone)
Pronounced: Dis-com-bob-bew-late
Sentence to use it in: Do you want to learn some more long words too or are you too discombobulated after reading this article?
Strange, Stranger, Strangest
Published
24 November 2017
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Published
10 June 2018
