STARTLING INFORMATION

The English language has at least one nine-letter word that remains a word as each of its letters is successively removed, right down to a single letter.

That word is “startling” —

* startling
* remove the l, and the word becomes: starting
* remove one t, and the word becomes: staring
* remove the a, and the word becomes: string
* remove the r, and the word becomes: sting
* remove the other t, and the word becomes: sing
* remove the g, and the word becomes: sin
* remove the s, and the word becomes: in
* remove the n, and the word becomes: I

Source: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Language (Nine Letters)