Swell

/swɛl/ adj, adv, noun, verb, slang

adj, adv, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: The act of swelling; increase in size.
  • Grammar: swell is listed as adj, adv, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: accent, accent mark, accrue, accumulate.
  • Useful contrasts: awful, bad, calm.
  • Usage evidence: The toothache made his face swell up.

How to use "swell"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "swell" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "swell" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "swell" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "swell" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "swell" is acting as adj, adv, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "accent" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "swell", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of swelling; increase in size. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    a crescendo followed by a decrescendo wordnet
  3. 3
    A bulge or protuberance. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    the undulating movement of the surface of the open sea wordnet
  5. 5
    Increase of power in style, or of rhetorical force. countable, uncountable

    "Concentrated are his arguments, select and distinct and orderly his topics, ready and unfastidious his expressions, popular his allusions, plain his illustrations, easy the swell and subsidence of his periods […]"

Show 11 more definitions
  1. 6
    a rounded elevation (especially one on an ocean floor) wordnet
  2. 7
    A long series of ocean waves, generally produced by wind, and lasting after the wind has ceased. countable, uncountable

    "the heave of a heavy ocean swell"

  3. 8
    a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance wordnet
  4. 9
    A gradual crescendo followed by diminuendo. countable, uncountable

    "He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts."

  5. 10
    A device for controlling the volume of a pipe organ. countable, uncountable
  6. 11
    A division in a pipe organ, usually the largest enclosed division. countable, uncountable
  7. 12
    A hillock or similar raised area of terrain. countable, uncountable

    "Off on the crest of a swell a moving figure was seen now and then. "Antelope," said the hunters."

  8. 13
    An upward protrusion of strata from whose central region the beds dip quaquaversally at a low angle. countable, uncountable
  9. 14
    A person who is stylish, fancy, or elegant. countable, dated, informal, uncountable

    "It costs him no more to wear all his ornaments about his distinguished person than to leave them at home. If you can be a swell at a cheap rate, why not?"

  10. 15
    A person of high social standing; an important person. countable, informal, uncountable

    ""I am not in Mr Crosbie's confidence. He is in the General Committee Office, I know; and, I believe, has pretty nearly the management of the whole of it." "I'll tell you what he is, Bell; Mr Crosbie is a swell." And Lilian Dale was right; Mr Crosbie was a swell."

  11. 16
    The front brow of a saddle bow, connected in the tree by the two saddle bars to the cantle on the other end. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To become bigger, especially due to being engorged. intransitive

    "O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!"

  2. 2
    expand abnormally wordnet
  3. 3
    To cause to become bigger. transitive

    "Rains and dissolving snow swell the rivers in spring."

  4. 4
    cause to become swollen wordnet
  5. 5
    To grow gradually in force or loudness. intransitive

    "The organ music swelled."

Show 10 more definitions
  1. 6
    increase in size, magnitude, number, or intensity wordnet
  2. 7
    To cause to grow gradually in force or loudness. transitive

    "It commenced with a slow crescendo, so irresistibly lugubrious that two of our dogs at once raised their heads and swelled their voices into a responsive tremolo, which may have been heard and appreciated by their distant relatives."

  3. 8
    come up, as of a liquid wordnet
  4. 9
    To raise to arrogance; to puff up; to inflate. transitive

    "to be swelled with pride or haughtiness"

  5. 10
    become filled with pride, arrogance, or anger wordnet
  6. 11
    To be raised to arrogance. intransitive

    "Why, here he comes, swelling like a turkey-cock."

  7. 12
    come up (as of feelings and thoughts, or other ephemeral things) wordnet
  8. 13
    To be elated; to rise arrogantly.

    "In all things else above our humble fate Your equal mind yet swells not into state, But like some mountain in those happy Isles Where in perpetual Spring young Nature smiles, Your greatnesse shows:"

  9. 14
    To be turgid, bombastic, or extravagant.

    "swelling words  a swelling style"

  10. 15
    To protuberate; to bulge out.

    "A cask swells in the middle."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Fashionable, like a swell or dandy. dated, not-comparable, usually

    "We pay the express, $5 a day our new agents are making and wearing the swellest clothes besides; old agents after one season make twice as much."

  2. 2
    Excellent. Canada, US, dated, not-comparable, slang, usually

    "...you are my devoted friend too. You do more and work harder and oh shit I'd get maudlin about how damned swell you are. My god I'd like to see you... You're a hell of a good guy."

Adjective
  1. 1
    excellent wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    Very well. Canada, US, informal, not-comparable

    "“That lousy ring wasn’t worth no grand. I did swell to get two centuries for it.”"

Synonyms

All synonyms
accentaccent markaccrueaccumulateace-highadd to

Example

"The toothache made his face swell up."

Common questions

What does "swell" mean?

The act of swelling; increase in size.

What is a synonym for "swell"?

Common synonyms include: accent, accent mark, accrue, accumulate, ace-high, add to.

How do you use "swell" in a sentence?

The toothache made his face swell up.

How do you pronounce "swell"?

Pronounced /swɛl/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English swellen, from Old English swellan (“to swell”), from Proto-West Germanic *swellan, from Proto-Germanic *swellaną (“to swell”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian swälle (“to swell”), West Frisian swolle (“to swell”), Dutch zwellen (“to swell”), Low German swellen (“to swell”), German schwellen (“to swell”), Swedish svälla (“to swell”), Icelandic svella. The adjective may derive from the noun.

Etymology 2

From Middle English swelle, from the verb swellen (modern swell).

Etymology 3

From the noun "swell" (a person dressed in an elegant manner).

More for "swell"

Synonyms

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