# smelly vs swell

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

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

### swell
*verb · IPA /swɛl/ · frequency rank #12,339*
To become bigger, especially due to being engorged.

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