Swansea
/ˈswɒnzi/
"swansea" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Swansea” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,690 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #12,690
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A city and county in South Wales.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Swansea |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈswɒnzi/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #12,690 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Swansea” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Swansea is 7 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈswɒnzi/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,690 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for Swansea, with forms such as "sawnsea", "sswansea", and "swanesa". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Swanson", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Sweynesse (c. 1165), Sueinesea (1190), Swanesey (1322), from Old Norse Sveins ey (literally “Sveinn’s island”). The correct English form is Swansea, spelled S-W-A-N-S-E-A.
Definition
- 1A city and county in South Wales.
- 2Various other places in the United States, Canada and Australia:
- 3Various other places in the United States, Canada and Australia:
- 4Various other places in the United States, Canada and Australia:
- 5Various other places in the United States, Canada and Australia:
- 6Various other places in the United States, Canada and Australia:
- 7Various other places in the United States, Canada and Australia:
- 8Various other places in the United States, Canada and Australia:
- 9Various other places in the United States, Canada and Australia:
- 10Various other places in the United States, Canada and Australia:
Etymology
From Middle English Sweynesse (c. 1165), Sueinesea (1190), Swanesey (1322), from Old Norse Sveins ey (literally “Sveinn’s island”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: sawnsea,sswansea,swanesa,swannsea,swansae,swanssea,swasnea,swnasea,swwansea,wsansea
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Swansea - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "Swansea"?
What does "Swansea" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Swansea"?
How do you pronounce "Swansea"?
What is the origin of the word "Swansea"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Swansea”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-W-A-N-S-E-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈswɒnzi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Swanson” - see the side-by-side comparison. Swansea vs Swanson
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.