“Screeched” is often cited as the longest one-syllable word (9 letters), but it’s not the longest.
Here are a few one-syllable words that are even longer:
- Schmaltzed (10 letters) – meaning to make something overly sentimental, often used in music.
- Strengthed (10 letters) – an obsolete word meaning to strengthen.
- Scraunched (10 letters) – meaning to crunch or crush something.
- Scroonched (10 letters) – a variant of “scrunched,” meaning to squeeze or crumple.
There’s even some debate about whether “squirrelled” (11 letters) can be pronounced as one syllable, which would make it the longest!
Syllables aside, the longest word in the English language is:
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
It’s 45 letters long and refers to a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine silica dust, usually found in volcanoes.
Interestingly, it was originally coined to be the longest word in English, and it has succeeded in that regard.
