Download Article
Download Article
The fear of long words is ironically called hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia . It may seem daunting at first, but if you take your time and break the word up into pieces, it is actually quite easy to pronounce, some might think this phobia is made up but quite frankly it is the official fear of long words.
Things You Should Know
- Pronounce "hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia" like "hippo-pa-toe-mon-stro-ses-quipped-alley-oh-phobia."
Steps
-
Break the word into up into its root words. Hippopoto-monstro-sesuiquipedalio-phobia . Hippopoto is the misspelled form of Hippopotamus , Monstro comes from the Latin Monstrum , meaning Monster , Sesquipedalio comes from Sesquipedalian , a very long word, and lastly Phobia , an extreme or irrational fear of something. [2] X Research sourceAdvertisement
-
Break the word up into easy to pronounce pieces. Hippo-poto-monstro-sesqui-pedalio-phobia.
-
Follow with Poto . Pronounce it as Po-toh .
-
Next comes Monstro . Say Mon-stroh .
-
Then there is Sesqui . Pronounce Ses-kwee .
-
Say Pedalio . This is pronounced as Peh-dah-leejoh .
-
Finish with Phobia . Say it like Foh-beejah .
-
Practice saying each piece.
-
Pronounce the whole word. Hi-poh-po-toh-mon-stroh-ses-kwee-peh-dah-leejoh-foh-beeja . [4] X Research source
-
Practice the pronunciation until you can say the word without hesitations. [5] X Research source
Advertisement
Community Q&A
Search
-
QuestionWhy do people get scared of long words?Community AnswerPeople have all different kinds of phobias (fears), some more unusual than others. There's really no explaining why it happens, people are just born that way.
-
QuestionHow do I stop being scared of long words?Community AnswerYou could start with smaller words and slowly get into bigger words.
-
QuestionWhy are people scared of long words?Community AnswerIt depends for different people, because some may just not know the words while others may be legitimately intimidated by the words for several different reasons.
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
Advertisement
Tips
- Many people leave an ever so small pause between Hippopotomonstro and Sesquipedalophobia . This is because to prevent struggling with the word and for better pronunciation.Thanks
- If you can read the International Phonetic Alphabet, this may help to pronounce the word: /ˌhɪ.pə.pɒ.təˈmɒn.strəˌsɛ.skwɪ.pɪˈdeɪ.lɪəˌfoʊ.bɪə/.Thanks
Submit a Tip
All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
Name
Please provide your name and last initial
Thanks for submitting a tip for review!
Advertisement
Expert Interview
Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about speech pathology, check out our in-depth interview with Stephanie Jeret .
References
About This Article
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 326,731 times.
Reader Success Stories
- "I have learned long English words now. This is very helpful for me at school or college later."
Advertisement