# sail vs smile

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### sail
*noun · IPA /seɪl/ · frequency rank #7,054*
A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination of mast, spars and ropes.

### smile
*noun · IPA /ˈsmaɪl/ · frequency rank #2,316*
A facial expression comprised by flexing the muscles of both ends of one's mouth, often showing the front teeth, without vocalisation, and in humans is a common involuntary or voluntary expression of happiness, pleasure, amusement, goodwill, or anxiety.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sail-vs-smile