Which to use
“shelled” and “spelled” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,244
- “shelled” frequency rank
- #9,819
- “spelled” frequency rank
- 36063
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shelled | spelled |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of shell | simple past and past participle of spell |
Where the eye mixes shelled and spelled
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between shelled and spelled
A purely visual mix-up. shelled (/ʃɛld/) and spelled (/ˈspɛld/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - h in “shelled” becomes p in “spelled”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shelled is recorded at frequency rank #26,244, classified as averb, pronounced /ʃɛld/. spelled is at rank #9,819, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈspɛld/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 36063, this pair ranks #306,489 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shelled vs spelled
Shared letters: dels. Private to "shelled": h. Private to "spelled": p.
"shelled" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "spelled" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shelled" for "spelled" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "shelled" or "spelled" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "shelled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spelled" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #306,489 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shelled" and "spelled" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shellac vs shelled". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #306,489 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.