Floccinaucinihilipilification is the act or habit of esteeming or describing something as worthless, or making something to be worthless by said means.
It is pronounced \\'flä-chE-'nau-chE-ni-'hi-lE-'pi-lE-fI-'ca-shun\\. (Pronunciation Symbols) It may also be pronounced "FLOK-sih-noh-see-NEE-hee-lee-PEE-lih-fih-KAY-shun".
It is the longest non-technical word in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), where it dates back to 1741. The first use the OED gives is from the poet William Shenstone in 1741: "I loved him for nothing so much as his flocci-nauci-nihili-pili-fication of money".
It is said to have been made up by some Eton College students from four words meaning 'nothing' or 'worthless', presented in "a well-known rule from the Eton Latin Grammar", as for example:
- flocci - Latin, "a sheep's fleece or piece of wool", as in flocci non facio - "I don't care" (literally "I couldn't give a sheep's fleece)
- nauci - Latin, "of the trifle"
- nihil - Latin, "nothing"
- pili - Latin, "the hairs", by implication small and insignificant
- "Flocci" "nauci" "nihili" "pili" fication
Quotations
[... I] have arrived at a flocci-pauci-nihili-pili-fication of money, and I thank Shenstone for inventing that long word.
"Do you think I may be too quick to find fault with things and people, Zippy?"
"I note your distress at my floccinaucinihilipilification of the CTBT" (Helms claims he learned the word from Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan)
- Mike McCurry, President Clinton's press secretary: