What is the longest word without any vowels?

Answer 1

One frequently-cited English word containing no vowels is twyndyllyngs, a fifteenth-century plural version of twinling, or twin. The plural is added to achieve what is considered by some to be the longest English word with no vowels.

Of English words in use today, the longest without vowels is rhythmns, again pluralized to make it longer.

Both these words contain a vowel-sound, represented by 'y'. There are words in English which have no 'y' or 'r' to provide a vowel-sound, but it's difficult to pinpoint the longest of these because the few in use either depend on regional pronunciations or are imitative; these include words such as 'shh', 'hmm', 'hmph', and so on. One could argue indefinitely over how many letters these type of words contain - it depends on how long you hold the sound, and while one might say, sharply, 'Hm!' as an interjection of, perhaps, disbelief, one might just as legitimately say, 'Hmmmm ... ', indicating extended consideration or contemplation.

Answer 2

The longest word in the English language without any vowels is "rhythms." This word has seven letters and is commonly used to describe a regular pattern of sounds or movements. The absence of vowels in this word is unique, as most English words contain at least one vowel.

Answer 3

There is no English word without a vowel. The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y and even - especially in the case of Welsh words borrowed directly - w. To say that the Y in my or buy or really is not a vowel is absurd. Also the oo sound of the w in how is clearly a vowel.

Considering only the classic vowels A, E, I, O, U, "rhythms" is the longest common English word without a vowel. However, a longer word listed in the Oxford English Dictionary is twyndyllngs (Welsh for twins?).

However, the letter Y in these words is considered a vowel, or semi-vowel, as is the letter W in other words from Welsh, such as cwm and crwth.

Eliminate words with the letter Y and such W words, and then the debate turns to what the word "word" means. Count utterances that do get spelled out in written speech and "tskstsks" would be the longest word without a vowel, according to some sources. Note that some dictionaries don't list the likes of "hmm," "brr," "pfft," "psst," "shh," "zzz" and "mm," but all of these are considered words by Scrabble's official Tournament Word List. (Note the word "Word" in "Word List.")

Want to be fussy and not count expressive sounds either? There is still at least one word that still qualifies: "nth," as in "the nth degree." It's listed an an adjective by Merriam Webster. Also listed is "x" as a verb, as in "to x something out" and "it was x'd out." In addition, every letter has an entry as a noun for that letter and its uses in such expressions as "S curve" and "to a T" and "catch some z's."

Answer 4

Twyndyllyngs is the longest word in English that doesn't contain one of the five vowels (AEIOU). It comes from Welsh and is obviously rare, but it does appear in the Oxford English Dictionary.

There is no word without vowels. Twyndyllyngs has three of 'em.

Answer 5

First we need to know "What letters are vowels?"

The letters a,e,i,o,u are always used as vowels. There are many words which are written without these letters, but they invariably use a 'y' and/or a 'w' to represent the vowel sound, in which case the letters y/w function as vowels.

Some of the longest words in this category are:

• twyndyllyngs, (if this is a real word, it a Welsh word, not English)
• symphysy, (often cited, and seen in texts, but unable to confirm from any authoritative dictionary)
• rhythms
• syzygy

Onomatopoeias

An onomatopoeia is a word formed from, or indicating the sound being made. e.g. wow!, oh!, eek!

Some onomatopoeias have vowels. Here are some that do not:

• brrr -cold
• grr -angry
• hmm -pondering
• hmpf -irritated
• prrr -cat noise
• zzzz -sleeping/snoring

Spellings of these onomatopoeias vary, and, many dictionaries do not list them at all, although they are in common use.

Notes

As an example of inclusion in an English dictionary, brrr(or brr) is listed in Webster's New World College Dictionary 2010 as an interjection, "used to signify that one feels cold."

Interjections are words, as are onomatopoeias. So, based on such factors, expressions such as 'brrr' that have no vowels evidently qualify as words in English that have no vowels, although some may disagree.

If the words in the above list of onomatopeias qualify as words without vowels, and if words such as 'rhythms' DO NOT qualify as words without vowels (because they have a 'y' or a 'w'), then maybe one or more words from this second list above, or similar words, are the only genuine contenders for the title 'longest word in English that has no vowels'.

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There is no English word without a vowel. The vowels are aeiou and sometimes y and w. W is a vowel in certain diphthongs, such as how and thaw, and in certain Welsh words borrowed directly to English without anglicizing the spelling, such as crwth.

Some 'long' words using only y/w as vowels:

1. rhythms (7 letters)
2. symphysy (8 letters) -apparently listed in Merriam-Webster and Oxford English Dictionary, but we have been unable to verify this.
3. twyndyllyngs (12 letters) -allegedly an archaic Welsh spelling of 'twinlings' i.e. twins. However, we have yet to find twyndyllngs listed in any authoritative dictionary.

There are also some real words without aeiou, w or y.

• nth (3 letters, the only legal word for scrabble) - representing an unspecified ordinal number, usually the greatest in a series of values: the nth power
• tsk (3 letters) - An exclamation of disapproval.
• tsks (4 letters)
• tsktsk (or tsk tsk, 6 letters) - The sound of tsk.
• tsktsks (or tsk tsks, 7 letters)

Answer 6

Twyndyllyngs is the longest word in English that doesn't contain one of the five vowels (AEIOU). It comes from Welsh and is obviously rare, but it does appear in the Oxford English Dictionary.

It turns out that "twyndyllyng" (singular) is a 15th century spelling of the word "twinling," which means, in modern English, "twin."

Answer 7

There is no English word without a vowel. The English vowels are: a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y and w. Some vowel-less vocalisms involving continuous consonants exist, such as brrr, hmmm, psst, and zzzz. But they are not words.

sly is voweless also the y doesnt count as a vowel

It is recognized that in certain situations Y counts as a vowel. The word Sly (as well as others such as Nymph, Shy, My, or Crypt) has a vowel because Y is a vowel in this case.

Answer 8

The longest word without any vowels in it is Rythms.

Answer 9

every word must have a vowel in it for it to be considered a word.

Answer 10

The answer is RHYTHMS