# Your Favorite Multi-syllabic Word **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427 "2017-09-27T14:58:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/21 "2017-09-27T18:41:28Z")
Also, _Styxian_ and _Phrygian_. (Not that long, I know, but neat nevertheless.) :o ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/22 "2017-09-27T18:52:40Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > “Defenestration,” meaning the throwing of something out of a window. Also, “falling out a window.” The first time I encountered this word was in one of the later books of Gore Vidal’s \*\*\*America \*\*\*series. I knew immediately what it meant from having studied both Latin and German. How about \*antebellum \*for pre-CW America, _antedeluvian_ for pre-Flood history, and \*antipodean \*with respect to Scott and Amundsen? Can you say \*antipastean \*where dinner is concerned? :dubious: 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/23 "2017-09-27T19:24:50Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > “Defenestration,” meaning the throwing of something out of a window. I learned this one because of the band back in the '80s. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/24 "2017-09-27T19:34:36Z")
“Monosyllabic” is possibly the most ironic word in the English language. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/25 "2017-09-27T19:45:41Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > “Monosyllabic” is possibly the most ironic word in the English language. I think it ties with “Abbreviation”. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/26 "2017-09-27T19:49:20Z")
Googleplex, although you could never use it in RL. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/27 "2017-09-27T19:52:12Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I think it ties with “Abbreviation”. Phonetic could be in there too. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/28 "2017-09-27T20:11:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **CalMeacham** : > > Don’t know if they’re my favorites, but I have a weakness for the names of complex mathematical solids Solids? Pshaw. I can out-dimension you with the example I was going to post anyway, “hyperparallelopiped”. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/29 "2017-09-27T20:49:36Z")
I like _conjunctivodacryocystorhinostomy_, a surgical procedure that sticks a glass tube between the corner of your eye and the inside of your nose. (That’s the longest word I’ve seen in the wild.) Honorable mention goes to _eleemosynary_ for the funky Greek spelling/pronunciation combo. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/30 "2017-09-27T21:14:18Z")
Having recently re-read Pratchett, I’ll mention one of his favorites: susurration He seemed to work it into many of his Discworld novels. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/31 "2017-09-28T05:24:43Z")
Try ferroequinology: the study of iron horses; i.e, locomotives ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/32 "2017-09-28T10:14:19Z")
I’m partial to _gruntled_. > [@terentian](#): > > Also, Styxian and Phrygian. Did you mean _Stygian_? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/33 "2017-09-28T13:56:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Solids? Pshaw. I can out-dimension you with the example I was going to post anyway, “hyperparallelopiped”. Higher dimensionality does not equate with “better” I have it on the authority of Mr. Square of Flatland. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/34 "2017-09-28T14:00:07Z")
I’m partial to _discombobulated_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/35 "2017-09-28T14:05:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Higher dimensionality does not equate with “better” > I have it on the authority of Mr. Square of Flatland. Yendred of the Planiverse agrees, as does Eck from _The Outer Limits_. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/36 "2017-09-28T14:08:54Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Googleplex, although you could never use it in RL. I’m sure it’s used commonly and I’ve even used it several times myself. But I suspect you mean “googolplex.” (And I’m sure I can come up with an example where it would make sense when discussing combinatorics, but it’d be pretty narrow and probably a bit contrived.) [This is the Googleplex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googleplex), by the way. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/37 "2017-09-28T14:13:28Z")
For, me, since learning it as a kid, and it’s an obvious one, is [floccinaucinihilipilification](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdZFV4yFi-Y). Now, granted, I may have used that word only once or twice in real life, tongue-in-cheek, with somebody who would be familiar with it (or otherwise enjoy its use), but it always gives me a smile. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/38 "2017-09-28T15:00:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > For, me, since learning it as a kid, and it’s an obvious one, is [floccinaucinihilipilification](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdZFV4yFi-Y). Now, granted, I may have used that word only once or twice in real life, tongue-in-cheek, with somebody who would be familiar with it (or otherwise enjoy its use), but it always gives me a smile. Just beat me to it! I use it when playing hangman with non-native speakers, it’s actually much easier to get than short words (like ‘sky’) because it has so many different letters. Oh, and [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmXQOJhd0_0). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/39 "2017-09-28T16:28:18Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Did you mean _Stygian_? Probably. But I think it’s cooler with an _x_. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427/40 "2017-09-28T18:07:04Z")
Defenestrate. Several years ago I found out that as a child I presented papyrophagia. That manages to make “munching on the corners of paper” sound like it’s something terribly dangerous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-multi-syllabic-word/797427.md?page=3)