I feel kind of stupid here. What is a “descender”? Letters in reverse alphabetical order?
Letters where part of the glyph hangs bellow the base line. In the font my browser uses (lower case only): g, q, y, p, g, j
And don’t forget g!
Starting with three-in-a-row, I find this many words:
3: 15996
4: 4889
5: 1542
6: 668
7: 138
8: 50
9: 4
If I eliminate ‘i’ from the list of ascenders, leaving only consonants, I find:
3: 2185
4: 24
The 7-, 8-, and 9-sequence words from the first set and the 4-sequence words from the second set are listed below.
Including ‘i’:
7 accessibilities
7 adhibiting
7 admissibilities
7 antibillboard
7 antifilibuster
7 antifilibusters
7 audibility
7 bifidity
7 biocompatibility
7 childlike
7 childlikeness
7 childlikenesses
7 collapsibilities
7 combustibility
7 compatibility
7 comprehensibilities
7 compressibilities
7 conductibility
7 contemptibility
7 contractibility
7 convertibility
7 corrigibilities
7 corruptibility
7 credibility
7 deductibility
7 defeasibilities
7 defensibilities
7 destructibility
7 digestibility
7 distensibilities
7 distractibility
7 divisibilities
7 edibility
7 eligibilities
7 erodibility
7 exhaustibility
7 expansibilities
7 extensibilities
7 feasibilities
7 filthily
7 flexibilities
7 frangibilities
7 fungibilities
7 fusibilities
7 helilifting
7 histocompatibility
7 hypersusceptibility
7 illegibilities
7 immiscibilities
7 impassibilities
7 impermissibilities
7 implausibilities
7 impossibilities
7 impressibilities
7 inaccessibilities
7 inadmissibilities
7 inaudibility
7 incombustibility
7 incompatibility
7 incomprehensibilities
7 inconvertibility
7 incorrigibilities
7 incorruptibility
7 incredibility
7 indefeasibilities
7 indefectibility
7 indefensibilities
7 indelibility
7 indestructibility
7 indigestibility
7 indivisibilities
7 inducibilities
7 ineligibilities
7 inexhaustibility
7 inexpressibilities
7 infeasibilities
7 inflexibilities
7 infrangibilities
7 infusibilities
7 insensibilities
7 insusceptibility
7 intangibilities
7 intelligibilities
7 intercomprehensibilities
7 interconvertibility
7 intervisibilities
7 invincibilities
7 invisibilities
7 irascibilities
7 irreducibilities
7 irrepressibilities
7 irreproducibilities
7 irresistibility
7 irresponsibilities
7 irreversibilities
7 killifish
7 killifishes
7 legibilities
7 lithification
7 lithifications
7 lithified
7 lithifies
7 milliliter
7 milliliters
7 miscibilities
7 negligibilities
7 nihilities
7 nondeductibility
7 partibility
7 perceptibility
7 perfectibility
7 permissibilities
7 plausibilities
7 possibilities
7 processibilities
7 reducibilities
7 reeligibilities
7 refrangibilities
7 reprehensibilities
7 repressibilities
7 reproducibilities
7 resistibility
7 responsibilities
7 reversibilities
7 risibilities
7 sensibilities
7 suggestibility
7 suppressibilities
7 susceptibility
7 tangibilities
7 tonsillitides
7 transmissibilities
7 unchildlike
7 unintelligibilities
7 vendibility
7 visibilities
7 weightlifting
7 weightliftings
8 audibilities
8 bifidities
8 biocompatibilities
8 combustibilities
8 compatibilities
8 conductibilities
8 contemptibilities
8 contractibilities
8 convertibilities
8 corruptibilities
8 credibilities
8 deductibilities
8 destructibilities
8 digestibilities
8 distractibilities
8 edibilities
8 erodibilities
8 exhaustibilities
8 fallibility
8 gullibility
8 hillbilly
8 histocompatibilities
8 hypersusceptibilities
8 inaudibilities
8 incombustibilities
8 incompatibilities
8 inconvertibilities
8 incorruptibilities
8 incredibilities
8 indefectibilities
8 indelibilities
8 indestructibilities
8 indigestibilities
8 inexhaustibilities
8 infallibility
8 insusceptibilities
8 interconvertibilities
8 irresistibilities
8 multibillion
8 multibillionaire
8 multibillionaires
8 multibillions
8 nondeductibilities
8 partibilities
8 perceptibilities
8 perfectibilities
8 resistibilities
8 suggestibilities
8 susceptibilities
8 vendibilities
9 fallibilities
9 gullibilities
9 hillbillies
9 infallibilities
Excluding ‘i’:
4 bellflower
4 bellflowers
4 cellblock
4 cellblocks
4 coldblood
4 deathblow
4 deathblows
4 eighthly
4 fifthly
4 gallbladder
4 gallbladders
4 gallflies
4 gallfly
4 healthful
4 healthfully
4 healthfulness
4 healthfulnesses
4 twelfth
4 twelfths
4 unhealthful
4 wallflower
4 wallflowers
4 wildflower
4 wildflowers
I thought we weren’t supposed to forget Poland. :smack:
Wow, good job. 
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one. I had to consult a dictionary to find out what it meant.
Ha! Found another: Amblypygi. However, apparently it’s an uncommon enough critter that it appears most dictionary editors do not include it.
Nice non-technical article on history of ascenders and descenders busting out after invention of cursive writing. Constantine enthroned 800 AD. Carolingian minuscule all government, hence huge swaths of Europe. The rest is history.
Typical. Get a few descenders together and their racism comes out. I always said descenders were a hate group.
Constantine? Alternative history, maybe. Did you mean Charlemagne?
Uh…yeah.