15 super long words in German that will knock your socks off

Written German looks to you like someone’s typing with a broken spacebar? Don’t let that keep you from learning the language!

If you tell people you’re learning German, sooner or later someone will ask you to “say something in German”. It’s a common request and most of us will answer with the basics like “hallo” or “mein Name ist…”

…But why don’t you try answering something like: “Massenkommunikationsdienstleistungsunternehmen” or “Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz” instead – preferably fast – and just watch the other person’s mouth drop?

I promise you the look on their face will be worth the effort you put into learning those words – and don’t worry. Learning long words in German isn’t as difficult as it looks.

There’s a secret to the longest German words. Most of them are just a number of words acting as one. They’re usually very literal and logical, sometimes painfully so. Like the German word for a domestic partner: “Lebensabschnittsgefährte” or “life passage companion,” but that logic will help you remember them.

We’ll teach you some of the longest words in the German language and break down how to learn them best.

What is the longest word in the German language dictionary?

The dictionary of standard High German, the Duden, lists some wildly long words but which one is the longest? Which one is the winner of the ‘longest German word award’ and what does it mean?

Here are the top 3 longest words in the German dictionary in all their glory - along with their English meaning:

3. Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

Letters: 63

English meaning: Delegation transfer law for the labeling of beef in order to monitor task transfers.

2. Grundstücksverkehrsgenehmigungszuständigkeitsübertragungsverordnung

Letters: 67

English meaning: Regulation on the delegation of authority concerning land conveyance permissions.

1. Rinderkennzeichnungsfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

Letters: 79

English meaning: Delegation transfer law for cattle labeling and beef labeling supervision duties.

Rinderkennzeichnungsfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz: The official longest German dictionary word

Holy cow! Those are some long words all about the labeling of beef and property management. Typically German - since Germany is all about those laws and regulations. You probably won’t hear or use any of these words in casual small talk, but you might hear them on the news or encounter them in legal documents, so they do exist.

How to pronounce the longest word in German

It’s easiest to pronounce any long German word by breaking it down. After all, long German words are nothing but a row of compound nouns. One tip is to look for familiar words within the longer words.

Take Rinder Kennzeichnungs Fleisch Etikettierungs Überwachungs Aufgaben Übertragungs Gesetz. Maybe you’ve already learned the words “Fleisch” (meat) and “Aufgaben” (tasks)? Focus on what looks familiar and then learn the words you don’t know.

As you can see “Rinderkennzeichnungsfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz” isn’t just one word. It doesn’t mean “cattle” for example - because that would be ridiculous. Technically, it’s eight words in a row, with a few extra “s”- sounds added for better flow:

15 of the longest words in German

Alright, so we’ve already given you the top 3, but we couldn’t stop there. After all, German is a language full of long, beautiful, quirky words. So here’s the top 15.

15. Streichholzschächtelchen

IPA: [ʃtʁaɪ̯çhɔlt͡sʃɛçtɛlçən]

Meaning: Matchbox.

14. Lebensabschnittsgefährte

IPA: [le:bənsapʃnɪtsgəfɛ:ɐ̯tə]

Meaning: Domestic partner.

13. Freundschaftsbeziehungen

IPA: [fʁɔʏ̯ntʃaftsbət͡si:ʊŋən]

Meaning: Friendship relationships.

12. Unabhängigkeitserklärungen

IPA: [ʊnaphɛŋɪçkaɪ̯tsɛɐ̯klɛ:ʁʊŋən]

Meaning: Declarations of Independence.

11. Nahrungsmittelunverträglichkeit

IPA: [ˈnaːʁʊŋsˌmɪtl̩ˈʊnfɛɐ̯ˌtʁɛːklɪçkaɪ̯t]

Meaning: Food intolerance.

10. Arbeiterunfallverischerungsgesetz

IPA: [aɐ̯baɪ̯təʁʊnfalfɛʁɪʃəʁʊŋsgəzɛt͡s]

Meaning: Workers' Compensation Act.

9. Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften

IPA: [ˈʁɛçt͡sʃʊt͡sfɛɐ̯ˌzɪçəʁʊŋsɡəˈzɛlʃaftn]

Meaning: Legal expenses insurance companies.

8. Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän

IPA: [do:naʊ̯damp͡fʃɪfa:ɐ̯tsgəzɛlʃaftskapi:tɛ:n]

Meaning: Danube Steamship Company Captain.

7. Betäubungsmittelverschreibungsverordnung

IPA: [bətɔʏ̯bʊŋsmɪtəlfɛɐ̯ʃʁaɪ̯bʊŋsfɛɐ̯ɔɐ̯dnʊŋ]

Meaning: Narcotics Prescription Ordinance.

6. Massenkommunikationsdienstleistungsunternehmen

IPA: [masənkɔmu:nɪkat͡sjo:nsdi:nstlaɪ̯stʊŋsʊntɐne:mən]

Meaning: Mass Communications Services Company.

5. Neunhundertneunundneunzigtausendneunhundertneunundneunzig

IPA: [ˈnɔɪ̯nˌhʊndɐt ˈnɔɪ̯nʔʊntˈnɔɪ̯nt͡sɪç ˈtaʊ̯zn̩t ˈnɔɪ̯nˌhʊndɐt ˈnɔɪ̯nʔʊntˈnɔɪ̯nt͡sɪç]

Meaning: Nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine.

4. Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

IPA: [ʁɪntflaɪ̯ʃe:tɪkəti:ʁʊnŋsy:bɐvaxʊŋsaʊ̯fga:bəny:bɐtʁa:gʊŋsgəzɛt͡]

Meaning: Delegation transfer law for the labeling of beef in order to monitor task transfers.

3. Grundstücksverkehrsgenehmigungszuständigkeitsübertragungsverordnung

IPA: [gʁʊntʃtʏksfɛɐ̯ke:ɐ̯sgəne:mɪgʊŋstsu:ʃtɛndɪçkaɪ̯tzy:bɐtʁa:gʊŋsfɛɐ̯ɔɐ̯dnʊŋ]

Meaning: Regulation on the delegation of authority concerning land conveyance permissions.

2. Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft

IPA: [do:naʊ̯damp͡fʃɪfa:ɐ̯tzəlɛktʁi:tstɛ:tənhaʊ̯ptbətʁi:psvɛɐ̯kbaʊ̯ntɐɐbəamtəngəzɛlʃaft]

Meaning: Danube Steamship Electricity Main Plant Construction Suboffice Company.

1. Rinderkennzeichnungsfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

IPA: [ʁɪndɐkɛnt͡saɪ̯çnʊŋsflaɪ̯ʃe:tɪkəti:ʁʊnŋsy:bɐvaxʊŋsaʊ̯fga:bəny:bɐtʁa:gʊŋsgəzɛt͡s]

Meaning: Delegation transfer law for cattle labeling and beef labeling supervision duties.

What is the longest word in German? Fun fact:

The longest German words aren’t actually the longest words in the German dictionary. That’s because German allows you to fuse as many nouns as you like and that way, you can make up whichever words you like.

Remember that Danube Steamship Company Captain? If you want to talk about his hat, you can add that hat to that already long word. The German word for “hat” is “Mütze”. So you could say “Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänsmütze” when you talk about the captain’s hat and all of a sudden your word has five more letters.

So the truth is, the longest German word is whatever you can think of. I’m challenging you to put together the longest German word you can think of. That’s a great way to practice your German vocab. Here’s the longest German word I can come up with right now:

“Katzenpfotenballenhimbeermarmeladenglastunker.” It means “Cat paw pads dipping into a jar of raspberry jam”!

Have fun with it – check out our top funny German words and phrases for some ideas that will give you a chuckle.

What is the longest one-syllable word in German?

As you can see, most long German words also carry a lot of meaning. Long words with a single meaning are the exception in German but they exist. Here are a few of those technically short words that consist of a lot of letters:

What is the longest German word without vowels?

Some languages look even harder to pronounce because they have long words without vowels, like the Czech word “scvrnkls”. It consists of eight letters and all of them are consonants!

However, German doesn’t work that way. There are no German words without vowels.

What is the longest German palindrome word?

A palindrome is a word that reads the same backward as forward like the word “kayak”.

The longest German palindrome is:

• Reliefpfeiler (Pilaster) - with an impressive 13 characters.
• It’s followed by “Sereneres”, meaning “more serene” (9 characters); and
• “Leseesel” meaning “reading room” (8 characters).

Already forgot how to say that long word about cattle?

Don’t worry. No one’s blaming you. Just listen to this German-speaker pronounce “Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz” and other crazy long German words!

Everybody has a different learning style, and if you’re the auditory learning type, listening to someone else pronounce words correctly is a great way for you to learn new vocab!

Mix and match

German isn’t as rigid as the German rules and regulations may make it sound. In fact, one of the most beautiful features of the German language is how easy it is to create your own words. As you saw with those cat paw pads dipping into a jar of raspberry jam, you can be very creative when you’re expressing yourself in German.

To make sure you have all the different German words in your repertoire, check out our big German language blog and mix and match as you please!