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  1. hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian love

Definitions

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Etymologies

  1. An extension of sesquipedalian using a modified form of hippopotamus and Latin monstrum; the extensions almost certainly chosen with the intention of making the new construct autological. (Wiktionary)

Examples

  • “Macaronics mix foreign and English words: In tempus old a hero lived/Qui loved puella deux .... le Besides subcategories of the foregoing, the book provides Lapsus Linguae, Twenty Questions, Hangman, Puns, and The Longest Word (hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian is an oddity that might be thrown in here), not to mention Lewis Carroll's Word Games.”

    Verbatim: VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XI No 4

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tags (2)

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  1. long
  1. wtf

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Lists

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Comments

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  • jmjarmstrong JM has been invited to address the Hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian Appreciation Society and, in a word, accepted! Oct 12, 2009

  • mollusque I saw another misspelling of hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian go scrolling by on the Wordie home page, and began wondering who coined the term. It's sometimes said to be from Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary (1974), but I've found it in The American Thesaurus of Slang (2nd ed., Berrey and van den Bark, 1953).

    From the hippopotamine root, it looks like it should be spelled "hippopotamonstrosesquipedalian" or "hippopotamomonstrosesquipedalian" as Richard Lederer did in Word Wizard (2006). I'm curious if the original coiner really did form it as "hippopot-o-monstr-o-sesquipedalian". Mar 24, 2008

  • thesuperiorbeing A very long word (really, that's what it means). Jan 19, 2008

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‘hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian’ has been looked up 3342 times, loved by 6 people, added to 17 lists, commented on 3 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.