# snell

> English word · Adjective · IPA /snɛl/ · frequency rank #33,424

## Definitions
1. Quick, smart; sharp, active, brisk or nimble; lively.
2. Quick-witted; clever.
3. Harsh, severe, or stinging.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English snell (“quick, fast”) from Old English snel, snell (“lively, quick”) from Proto-West Germanic *snell, from Proto-Germanic *snellaz (“active, swift, brisk”).
Akin to Dutch snel (“fast, quick”), German Low German snell (“quick”), German schnell (“quick, swift”), Yiddish שנעל (shnel, “quick, swift”), Italian snello (“quick, nimble”), Old French esnel, isnel (“snell”), and Occitan isnel, irnel (“snell”)), Old Norse snjallr (“skilful, excellent”) (whence Danish snild (“clever”)).

## Easily confused with
- **SNL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-snl)
- **SNES** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-snes)
- **still** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-still)
- **steel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-steel)
- **steal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-steal)
- **spell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-spell)
- **spill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-spill)
- **stall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-stall)
- **swell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-swell)
- **spelt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-spelt)
- **Stoll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-stoll)
- **stella** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snell-vs-stella)
- **Sel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sel-vs-snell)
- **self** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/self-vs-snell)
- **sell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sell-vs-snell)
- **seal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-snell)
- **sill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sill-vs-snell)
- **small** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/small-vs-snell)
- **shall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shall-vs-snell)
- **smell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smell-vs-snell)

## Common misspellings (6)
`nsell`, `senll`, `snel`, `snlel`, `snnell`, `ssnell`

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