floccinaucinihilipilification
Americannoun
Usage
What does floccinaucinihilipilification mean? Floccinaucinihilipilification is the act of considering something to be worthless, as in I was outraged by the pawn shop owner’s floccinaucinihilipilification of my prized toothpick collection.At 29 letters long, floccinaucinihilipilification is quite the mouthful and is a very rarely used word. If it is mentioned at all, it is almost always in the context of very long English words. In this sense, floccinaucinihilipilification is considered an oddity alongside other rarely used long words, such as antidisestablishmentarianism and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (of Mary Poppins fame). For fans of sesquipedalianism (using long words), you can find more big words in our article “The Longest Words In The English Language.”Example: Don’t be surprised by people’s floccinaucinihilipilification of your ability to correctly use long words.
Etymology
Origin of floccinaucinihilipilification
1735–45; < Latin floccī + naucī + nihilī + pilī all meaning “of little or no value, trifling” + -fication
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His politeness, deft use of parliamentary procedure and precise pronunciation of 29-letter words like floccinaucinihilipilification won over those who disliked his populist politics.
From The Guardian
MP Jacob Rees-Mogg's use of 29-letter floccinaucinihilipilification in 2012 remains the longest recorded.
From BBC
And in 2012, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg struck a blow for long-word lovers in the Anglosphere when he used floccinaucinihilipilification in the House of Commons - at 29 letters, the longest word in Hansard.
From BBC
Somehow my use of the word floccinaucinihilipilification clinched it, while also neatly describing the ludicrous event itself.
From The Guardian
Jacob Rees-Mogg has made the record books with the use of floccinaucinihilipilification in the House of Commons - now the longest word in Hansard.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
