Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
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English
Etymology
Combination of elements suggesting largeness or length, deliberately forming a word likely to induce the fear it denotes: hippopotomonstro- (irregular blend [influenced by connective -o-, from French, from Latin, from Greek—connective vowel of most nouns and adjectives in combination] of hippopotamus and monstro-, from Latin monstr-, monstrum, monster) + sesquippedalio- (incorrectly formed from sesquipedalian or Latin sesquipedalia, things one and a half feet long) + -phobia, from phobia
Noun
hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, rarely hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
- The fear of long words.
Usage
- It is unlikely that this 15-syllable contrivance is ever used purely for its meaning. The term sesquipedalophobia is recognized in formal writing, while the four-syllable phrase "fear of long words" is certainly worth considering.
Quotations
- 2002 - However, we assume that despite the best endeavours of science, some phobias will always remain. These include paraskavedekatriaphobia, or fear of Friday the 13th. And hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, which is fear of long words. - anon, The Scotsman (April 9, 2002) page 13.
- 2002 - Those who find this column troubling are suffering from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - the fear of long words. Or, more likely, rupophobia - a fear of rubbish. - Chris Lloyd in The Northern Echo (December 14, 2002) page 10
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In the book Useless Knowledge, this enormous word was misinterpreted by the authors as two words, causing them to list the fear of long words as the following:
- hippopotomonstroses
- and quippedaliophobia
—further distortions of an already very incorrectly formed word (see Etymology above)!
Synonyms
