‘Floccinaucinihilipilification’: What this 29-letter tongue twister Delhi court used in case against Nirmala Sitharaman means

A judge remarked that the case filed against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman amounted to floccinaucinihilipilification.

A Delhi court recently dropped a 29-letter tongue twister, ‘floccinaucinihilipilification’, casually during a hearing, instantly sparking curiosity among the public.

On Wednesday (April 1), Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal of the Rouse Avenue Court used the word while dismissing a criminal defamation complaint, describing the case as essentially “valueless or worthless.” The remark stood out not just for its meaning, but for the sheer rarity of the word itself.

About the case

The observation came while the court was hearing a complaint filed by Lipika Mitra against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Mitra had alleged that remarks made during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were defamatory and aimed at harming the electoral prospects of her husband, AAP leader Somnath Bharti.

However, the court dismissed the complaint, noting that the statements in question fell within the realm of political discourse between rival parties and did not meet the threshold for criminal defamation.

It was in this context that the judge remarked that the case amounted to “floccinaucinihilipilification,” effectively calling it devoid of merit.

What does floccinaucinihilipilification mean?

The word ‘floccinaucinihilipilification’ means the act of estimating something as worthless.

Its origins date back to the 18th century, coined as a playful construction by students at Eton College in England.

It combines four Latin words, ‘flocci’, ‘nauci’, ‘nihili’, and ‘pili’, all of which convey the idea of something trivial or of little value. Over time, it evolved into a single, famously long English word.

Despite its intimidating length, the meaning is quite straightforward: to dismiss something as insignificant.

Tharoor revived the word years ago?

Long before it echoed in a Delhi courtroom, floccinaucinihilipilification had already made a brief comeback in popular discourse, thanks to Shashi Tharoor, known for his flair for unusual and complex vocabulary.

In 2018, while promoting his book The Paradoxical Prime Minister, Tharoor used the word in a tweet, writing, “My new book, THE PARADOXICAL PRIME MINISTER, is more than just a 400-page exercise in floccinaucinihilipilification.”

The usage, like many of his linguistic choices, drew attention online, introducing the word to a wider audience. Years later, its appearance in a courtroom has once again brought it back into public conversation.