swollen

/ˈswəʊ.lən/

//ˈswəʊ.lən// adj

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

"swollen" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“swollen” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,622. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,622
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Protuberant or abnormally distended (as by injury or disease).

Corpus desk

Index EN-swollen · swollen · English

swollen · rank #13,622 · 9 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,622
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sweetie

Nearest frequency peer: sweetie (-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 “swollen”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “swollen” 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).

swollen vs stolen
71% similar
swollen vs sullen
71% similar
swollen vs swelled
71% similar

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

Key facts for swollen
PropertyValue
Headwordswollen
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈswəʊ.lən/
Letters7
Frequency rank#13,622
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “swollen”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).swollenlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “sweetie” (#13,621), “Tanzania” (#13,623), “tor” (#13,625). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “swollen” is #13,622. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around swollen (IPA /ˈswəʊ.lən/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #13,622 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Protuberant or abnormally distended (as by injury or disease).".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for swollen, with forms such as "sowllen", "sswollen", and "swlolen". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "stolen", "sullen", "swelled", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English swollen, i-swolle, y-swolle, yswolle, ȝeswollen, from Old English swollen, ġeswollen, from Proto-Germanic *swullanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *swellaną (“to swell”). Cognate with West Frisian swollen (“swollen”), Dutch gezwolle… The correct English form is swollen, spelled S-W-O-L-L-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Protuberant or abnormally distended (as by injury or disease).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how swollen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. swollen ankle
  2. swollen knee

Etymology

From Middle English swollen, i-swolle, y-swolle, yswolle, ȝeswollen, from Old English swollen, ġeswollen, from Proto-Germanic *swullanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *swellaną (“to swell”). Cognate with West Frisian swollen (“swollen”), Dutch gezwollen (“swollen”), German geschwollen (“swollen”), Swedish svullen (“swollen”).

This word in other languages

enflé(Français)angeschwollen(Deutsch)inchado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sowllen
  • sswollen
  • swlolen
  • swoleln
  • swolen
  • swollenn
  • swollne
  • swwollen
  • wsollen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of swollen - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

sowllen2sswollen1swlolen2swoleln2swolen1swollenn1swollne2swwollen1
Edit distance from "swollen"

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 "swollen"?
"swollen" is spelled S-W-O-L-L-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈswəʊ.lən/.
What does "swollen" mean?
As an adjective, "swollen" means: Protuberant or abnormally distended (as by injury or disease).
What words are commonly confused with "swollen"?
"swollen" is commonly confused with "stolen", "sullen", "swelled". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "swollen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "swollen" is /ˈswəʊ.lən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "swollen"?
From Middle English swollen, i-swolle, y-swolle, yswolle, ȝeswollen, from Old English swollen, ġeswollen, from Proto-Germanic *swullanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *swellaną (“to swell”). Cognate with West Frisian swollen (“swollen”), Dutc... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 "swollen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sweetie#13,621storing#13,618Tunisia#13,628unnamed#13,632

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

stokes9 variantssliced9 variantswellness9 variantswinger9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list