How to use the longest word finder
- Paste or type your text into the box. It can be a sentence, an essay or a whole document, up to 300,000 characters.
- Choose how many words to list, and leave Show every word tied for the longest ticked if you want all of the longest ones.
- Read the longest word at the top, then the length, the number of words, the number of different words and the average word length.
- Use the table to see the longest different words with their lengths and how many times each is used. Export it as CSV or print it.
Formula
word = a run of letters or digits, with a hyphen or apostrophe allowed between them
length = letters and digits in the word, not counting hyphens or apostrophes
average word length = total letters in all words / number of words
Words that differ only in capital letters are one word, shown as first written. They are sorted by length, longest first, then in alphabetical order.
A sample sentence
In "The quick brown fox didn't jump over the extraordinarily well-known lazy dogs, while the extraordinarily patient photographer waited." there are 18 words and 15 different ones. The longest is "extraordinarily" with 15 letters, used twice, followed by "photographer" with 12 and "well-known" with 9, which counts as 9 letters because the hyphen is not counted.
The average word length is 6.22 letters, found by adding the letters of all 18 words (112) and dividing by 18. Words of equal length, such as "didn't", "quick" and "while" at 5 letters each, are listed in alphabetical order.
What counts as a word
A word is a run of letters or digits. An apostrophe or hyphen between letters keeps the word together, so "don't" and "well-known" are one word each, and a number such as 3.14 is also one word. Other punctuation separates words. Letters from any alphabet are counted, including accented letters.
The length counts only the letters and digits, so hyphens and apostrophes do not make a word look longer than it is.
Using the results
Long words can make writing harder to read, so the average length and the longest words are a quick way to check a draft. For counts of words, sentences and reading time, use the word counter. To see the words you use most, try the word frequency counter, and to catch doubled words, the repeated word finder.
Assumptions and limits
- The text is processed in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
- Languages written without spaces, such as Chinese or Japanese, are split into words using the browser's word rules when available.
- Numbers count as words, so a long number can be the longest word in a text.
- Hyphenated words are treated as one word. Use a space instead of a hyphen if you want the parts counted separately.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find the longest word in a paragraph?
Paste the paragraph into the box and read the first line of the results. The table underneath ranks the longest different words, with how often each appears.
What if several words are the same length?
They are listed together. With the tie option on, the table shows every word that matches the longest length, even if that is more than the number of words you asked for.
Are hyphens counted in the length?
No. "Well-known" counts as 9 letters. Hyphens and apostrophes inside a word keep it whole but are not counted in the length.
Is my text uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser, and your text is never sent or stored.