# smell vs steal

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### smell
*noun · IPA /smɛl/ · frequency rank #3,086*
A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance.

### steal
*verb · IPA /stiːl/ · frequency rank #3,585*
To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.

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