# smelling vs swelling

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### smelling
*verb · IPA /ˈsmɛlɪŋ/ · frequency rank #13,426*
present participle and gerund of smell

### swelling
*noun · IPA /ˈswɛl.ɪŋ/ · frequency rank #11,621*
The state of being swollen.

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