# selfish vs shellfish

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### selfish
*adjective · IPA /ˈsɛlf.ɪʃ/ · frequency rank #6,009*
Holding one's own self-interest as the standard for decision making.

### shellfish
*noun · IPA /ˈʃɛl.fɪʃ/ · frequency rank #23,991*
A fisheries and colloquial term for an aquatic invertebrate having an inner or outer shell, such as a mollusc or crustacean, especially when edible.

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