sells

/sɛlz/

//sɛlz// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"sells" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sells” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,178. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,178
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - third-person singular simple present indicative of sell

Corpus desk

Index EN-sells · sells · English

sells · rank #6,178 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,178
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sentenced

Nearest frequency peer: sentenced (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “sells”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “sells” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sells vs ses
60% similar
sells vs sets
60% similar
sells vs sens
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sells
PropertyValue
Headwordsells
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/sɛlz/
Letters5
Frequency rank#6,178
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sells”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).sellslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “sentenced” (#6,179), “roster” (#6,176), “servant” (#6,180). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sells” is #6,178. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around sells (IPA /sɛlz/), averb. Corpus frequency is #6,178 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "third-person singular simple present indicative of sell".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for sells, with forms such as "eslls", "sellss", and "sels". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ses", "sets", "sens", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is sells, spelled S-E-L-L-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    third-person singular simple present indicative of sell

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eslls
  • sellss
  • sels
  • selsl
  • slels
  • ssells

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sells - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

eslls2sellss1sels1selsl2slels2ssells1
Edit distance from "sells"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sells"?
"sells" is spelled S-E-L-L-S. The IPA pronunciation is /sɛlz/.
What does "sells" mean?
As a verb, "sells" means: third-person singular simple present indicative of sell
What words are commonly confused with "sells"?
"sells" is commonly confused with "ses", "sets", "sens". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sells"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sells" is /sɛlz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sells" come from?
"sells" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sells", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

setup#6,181skull#6,183smash#6,185olive#6,168

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

meter6 variantsJulie6 variantswont6 variantsbreed6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list