# shell vs smelly

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### shell
*noun · IPA /ʃɛl/ · frequency rank #3,726*
A hard external covering of an animal.

### smelly
*adjective · IPA /ˈsmɛli/ · frequency rank #19,973*
Having a bad smell.

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