Thread: Looooooooong Russian words wanted

I'm collecting long Russian words for a learning project. Can you post some here or tell me where I can look for them?

I need words with no less than 20 letters; and just common words, not scientific or medical terms.

Thank you!

В Грамматическом словаре русского языка А. А. Зализняка издания 2003 года самая длинная (в буквах) нарицательная лексема в словарной форме — прилагательное частнопредпринимательский (25 букв; словоформы на -ого и -ими — 26 букв).

Самые длинные глаголы — переосвидетельствоваться, субстанционализироваться и интернационализироваться (все — 24 буквы; образованные от них причастия с окончанием -ующимися и деепричастия на -овавшись — по 25 букв).

Самые длинные существительные — человеконенавистничество и высокопревосходительство (по 24 буквы; словоформы на -ами — по 26 букв, впрочем, человеконенавистничество практически не употребляется в мн. ч.).

Самые длинные одушевлённые существительные — одиннадцатиклассница (20 букв) и делопроизводительница (21 буква), словоформы на -ами — по 22 и 23 буквы соответственно.

Самое длинное наречие, фиксируемое словарём, — неудовлетворительно (19 букв). Следует учесть, что от подавляющего большинства качественных прилагательных на -ый и -ий образуются наречия на -о, -е или -и, далеко не всегда фиксируемые словарём.

(Wikipedia)

Let's not forget достопримечательность, which basically means "tourist attraction" -- for example, St. Basil's Cathedral, or the Grand Canyon. 21 letters in the "dictionary form", and 23 letters in the instrumental plural.

Thanks, it-ogo. If these are the records, then I guess there aren't many words that are over 20 letters? Do you know approximately how many? Maybe I need to lower my threshold to 17.

Originally Posted by Ann

Thanks, it-ogo. If these are the records, then I guess there aren't many words that are over 20 letters? Do you know approximately how many? Maybe I need to lower my threshold to 17.

The specifics of Russian language is a plenty of suffixes and prefixes which can be combined together to get something more or less meaningfull. Such combinations mostly are not in vocabularies and are colloquial in some uncertain degree. So it is often difficult to say what is valid Russian word and what is not and what does a word mean exactly without context.

Anyway such long words are not common way of expressing ideas in Russian.

According to ru.wiktionary.org (click to proceed):

20 letters: 441 words
21 letters: 249
22 letters: 134
23 letters: 71
24 letters: 53
25 letters: 33
26 letters: 14
27 letters: 10 words

But of coz' you can not really collect them all.

сельскохозяйственного

Originally Posted by it-ogo

The specifics of Russian language is a plenty of suffixes and prefixes which can be combined together to get something more or less meaningful.

Just as in English, you can "stretch" the adjective microscopic (11 letters) into a 16-letter word by adding the prefix ultra-, and then turn the adjective into an adverb with the suffix -ally, for a grand total of 20 letters: ultramicroscopically.

You could even stretch this further with "nonce formations" like deultramicroscopicalization (27 letters) -- which, in a science-fiction context, could mean something like "the reversal (de-) of the process of making (-ization) something much much smaller," as happened at the end of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

ultramicroscopically.

Does this word really exist. Сельскохозяйственный, достопримечательность are common words.

I like the word «человеконенавистничество ».

достопримечателъности - not extremely long (21 characters) but a beautiful and authentic one.
Sabine

Originally Posted by Marcus

Does [ultramicroscopically] really exist. Сельскохозяйственный, достопримечательность are common words.

The adverb microscopically and the adjective ultramicroscopic are both "real" words, but to combine them into a single adverb ultramicroscopically would be very unusual. So it's more of a "nonce" term that's completely understandable but rarely or never heard, and not found in dictionaries.

On the other hand, ultramicroscopically doesn't sound "ridiculously unreal" like deultramicroscopicalization -- a word that one would probably only hear in the context of a parody of science-fiction -- but not in "straight" (i.e., serious) science-fiction, because the word just sounds rather stupid and semi-literate.

P.S. By the way, the corresponding adjective for microscopically is microscopic -- there's no such word as microscopical (unless it were used in a humorous poem or song to create a rhyme for the real adjectives topical and tropical -- but the effect would be funny).

Originally Posted by Sabine

достопримечательности - not extremely long (21 characters) but a beautiful and authentic one.
Sabine

Every time I see that word, I want to sing "Достопримечательности-expialidocious" in my best Julie Andrews voice!

Ам-дидл-лидл-лидл, ам-дидл-лай...

тромбопробулькиватель

Fun!

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Every time I see that word, I want to sing "Достопримечательности-expialidocious" in my best Julie Andrews voice!

Ам-дидл-лидл-лидл, ам-дидл-лай...

What an envy! What on words with many consonants and few vowels? For instance, in German: Selbstschütz, 2 - 10 .

Originally Posted by radomir

What an envy! What on words with many consonants and few vowels? For instance, in German: Selbstschütz, 2 - 10 .

In Russian: всплеск, 1-6.

Originally Posted by CoffeeCup

In Russian: всплеск, 1-6.

There is also "подвзбзднуть". But it's rude and more a language joke rather than a real word. Nevertheless it can be used in certain occasions.