Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

swollen

/ˈswoʊ.lən/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.57 in modern English

Syllables
swol-len
IPA
/ˈswoʊ.lən/
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

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

verb

past participle of swell

Example Sentences

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”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: swollen, *swullanaz, *swellaną

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈswoʊ.lən/
  • British English: /ˈswəʊ.lən/

Inflected Forms

more swollen (comparative) most swollen (superlative)

Derived Forms

forswollen nonswollen overswollen preswollen swollenly swollenness unswollen

Phrases

swollen assets theory swollen-headed

Frequently Paired Words

swole

Synonyms

jutting protuberant extuberant tumid bulging exserted obtrusive outstanding projecting projectory prominent promontorial

Antonyms

contracted deflated nonswollen shrunken shrivelled tabid unswollen wizened

Rhymes With

stolen nolan colon semi-colon dolan golan solon bolan bolen solan tolan polan

Questions

How do you pronounce swollen?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈswoʊ.lən/.
What does swollen mean?
Protuberant or abnormally distended (as by injury or disease).
Where does swollen come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce swollen

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “swollen”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈswoʊ.lən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “swollen”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “swollen” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.