# Anyone know how to find a list of words that have more than 11 letters in them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449 "2001-01-04T20:03:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SqrlCub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SqrlCub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SqrlCub)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/1 "2001-01-04T20:03:30Z")
I was asked by a friend here to find a list of words that have 11+ letters in them and I thought you could do it off of [http://www.dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com) but that doesn’t seem to work. I remember seeing that type of list done earlier. Anyone else know how to do it? Thanks and HUGS! Sqrl ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/2 "2001-01-04T20:21:34Z")
Just an idea - try to find a crossword dictionary online. They usually allow you to simply place asterisks for unknown letters. Typing eleven asterisks would get all the 11-letter words. Or, you could get a hard copy of a crossword dictionary too I suppose. They’re organized by number of letters. ---
**Author:** ![SqrlCub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SqrlCub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SqrlCub)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/3 "2001-01-04T20:34:19Z")
Thanks Gazoo. I knew there had to be a place to find it but was suffering from brain farts. I found it right away at the following link: [http://dictionary.langenberg.com](http://dictionary.langenberg.com). If only my brain worked all day long I would rock constantly like you. /me bows in the presence of the mighty Gazoo. HUGS! Sqrl ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/4 "2001-01-04T20:39:34Z")
Glad to have helped. ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/5 "2001-01-04T20:44:24Z")
awk ‘length($1) \> 11 {print $1}’ dictionary\_file 😉 [sub]sorry[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/6 "2001-01-04T21:06:43Z")
No, wait **Sqrl**! I’ve got the 20-volume unabridged _Oxford English Dictionary_ right here! Let’s see… Okay, here’s one: **abandonment** I’ll keep posting 'em as I find 'em… ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/7 "2001-01-05T00:30:28Z")
[A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia](http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words.html) Pages 11, 12 & 13 are what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/8 "2001-01-05T01:53:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spiritus Mundi \* > \*\*awk ‘length($1) \> 11 {print $1}’ dictionary\_file 😉 > \*\* grep ^.{11}$ dictionary\_file 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Clairmont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Clairmont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clairmont)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/9 "2001-01-05T02:05:28Z")
I have one that I say to my wife quite often: Fuckoffandstopbotheringme. I don’t say it out loud, though, so the poor dear is completely oblivious to a 24 letter word created just for her. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/10 "2001-01-05T05:11:55Z")
How long a list do you need? If everyone who read were to post a few 11+ letter words, would you be able to use that list? But I’ll help scratch1300 make you a list, at least: cooperative functionary fundamentalism insurmountable ozonosphere pachysandra zygapophysis ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/11 "2001-01-05T20:13:38Z")
> [@](#): > > grep ^.{11}$ dictionary\_file Fails to account for characters not part of the word identification. You should have gone bought perls. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/12 "2001-01-05T20:56:47Z")
international(ly) manueverability uncopyrightable indestructible facetiousness misanthropic indeterminable There are some for you:) ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2001, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/13 "2001-01-06T03:41:11Z")
I’m bored, so here are some more: heartrending ichthyology distinguished siphonophore suggestible polymorphous ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2001, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/14 "2001-01-06T04:27:06Z")
Why yes, I do know where to find 11-letter words. Check this out: [Ken Silverman’s Utility Page](http://www.advsys.net/ken/utils.htm)! Ken Silverman wrote the Build engine (used in Duke Nukem 3D) plus a whole lot of other crap. His webpage is great. But the important thing right now is his “FindWord” program. I actually used this on [another SDMB thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=31078). You can use wildcards with it. The only problem I have with it is that you can’t (to my knowledge) pause the program without pressing Break, which is tedious. Anyway, I did “findword ???” and got a HUGE list of 11-letter words. The ones on the screen right now are just the last words in the list, which are: xylophonist xylotomical (there’s a word to use at parties. I don’t know what it means, though.) Yardmasters yellowbirds yellowtails yellowwoods yokefellows youngnesses (???) zabagliones (I won’t ask.) zealousness zemindaries zestfulness zoantharian zombielikes zooparasite zooplankter zooplankton zootechnics zwitterions (???) zygodactyls zygomorphic zygotically zymotically You get the idea. I also got it to list 15-letter words, which include: volatilizations voluntarinesses (I don’t think this is a real word.) voraciousnesses (ditto) voyeuristically vulnerabilities warmheartedness warrantableness waterlessnesses (this is obviously not a word you’d actually use. Imagine “those flasks sure have many waterlessnesses”) wearisonenesses weatherboarding (hey, a real word.) weltanschauungs (what is this, German?) westernizations (another real word…) whimsicalnesses whippersnappers wholesomenesses withdrawnnesses woebegonenesses (this is the most ridiculous word this program has produced so far) wonderfulnesses worrisomenesses worthlessnesses wrongheadedness xerographically (another fun word to use at parties if I knew what it meant.) zinjanthropines That program is so fun! 😃 Ken Silverman also has a neat boggle-cheating program. My own contributions: * * * zygomatically sternocleidomastoid (My favorite thing to say in 2nd grade) icosihedron dodecahedron rhombitruncated icosidodecahedron cuboctahedron tetrahedron christianity (Hey, it’s got more than 11 letters.) ---
**Author:** ![Wump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed655f/32.png) [@Wump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wump)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2001, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/15 "2001-01-06T04:49:14Z")
my contribution: Masturbation hehehe, the maturity level in this thread has just dropped a notch… ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/16 "2001-01-06T15:23:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wump \* > \*\*my contribution: > > Masturbation > > hehehe, the maturity level in this thread has just dropped a notch… \*\* Not to mention the intelligence level. _Masturbation_ has twelve letters. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2001, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/17 "2001-01-06T21:41:55Z")
😕 Twelve isn’t more than eleven? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2001, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-how-to-find-a-list-of-words-that-have-more-than-11-letters-in-them/48449/18 "2001-01-06T22:13:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Attrayant \* > \*\*[A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia](http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words.html) > > Pages 11, 12 & 13 are what you’re looking for. \*\* Plus they cite our very own Arnold Winkelreid (using his real name, of course) for the longest French word.