Definition for: hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

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English

Alternative spellings

• hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

Pronunciation

Etymology

Extension of sesqui(p)pedalophobia with monstrum "monster" and a truncated form of hippopotamus, intended to exaggerate the length of the word itself and the idea of the size of the words being feared. The word consists of 36 letters.

Noun

hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia ( uncountable )

1. The fear of long words, literally the hippopotamus- and monster-related fear of very long words.

Usage notes

• 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.
• 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
  • quippedaliophobia

These fragments appear to be quoted occasionally in other sources.

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

Synonyms

• sesquipedalophobia

Translations

Related terms

• sesquipedalian

Other Translations for "hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia"

Braille 6 Dot
Braille 8 Dot
Sign Language Spelling
Morse Code		.... .. .--. .--. --- .--. --- - --- -- --- -. ... - .-. --- ... . ... --.- ..- .. .--. .--. . -.. .- .-.. .. --- .--. .... --- -... .. .-
Binary		1101000 1101001 1110000 1110000 1101111 1110000 1101111 1110100 1101111 1101101 1101111 1101110 1110011 1110100 1110010 1101111 1110011 1100101 1110011 1110001 1110101 1101001 1110000 1110000 1100101 1100100 1100001 1101100 1101001 1101111 1110000 1101000 1101111 1100010 1101001 1100001
Hex		686970706F706F746F6D6F6E7374726F73657371756970706564616C696F70686F626961
Pig Latin		ippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobiahay

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