can't set vim spellfile relative to HOME on mac

Question

I have installed vim on mac using homebrew and as I'm trying to configure spellchecking I'm facing an issue. When I set try to set the spellfile (either within my vimrc or using vim :set commands I get the error below:

invalid argument: spellfile=~/.vim/spell/mywordlist.utf-8.add

So basically in my vimrc if I have:

set spellfile=~/.vim/spell/alxgomz.utf-8.add

I get the error above. But If I use:

set spellfile=.vim/spell/alxgomz.utf-8.add

The error goes away but of course the spellfile is only found if pwd is home dir...

The config works ok on my linux box but not on my mac. I've also tried using $HOME instead of "~" but that doesn't help. Neither does quoting (single or double)...

Anyone faced that or know how to acheive specifying a spellfile remative to homedir on mac?

Edit:

VIM - Vi IMproved 8.2 (2019 Dec 12, compilé Mar 12 2022 12:21:28)
Version macOS - x86_64
Rustines incluses : 1-4550
Compilé par Homebrew
Énorme version sans interface graphique.
  Fonctionnalités incluses (+) ou non (-) :
+acl               +file_in_path      +mouse_urxvt       -tag_any_white
+arabic            +find_in_path      +mouse_xterm       -tcl
+autocmd           +float             +multi_byte        +termguicolors
+autochdir         +folding           +multi_lang        +terminal
-autoservername    -footer            -mzscheme          +terminfo
-balloon_eval      +fork()            +netbeans_intg     +termresponse
+balloon_eval_term +gettext           +num64             +textobjects
-browse            -hangul_input      +packages          +textprop
++builtin_terms    +iconv             +path_extra        +timers
+byte_offset       +insert_expand     +perl              +title
+channel           +ipv6              +persistent_undo   -toolbar
+cindent           +job               +popupwin          +user_commands
-clientserver      +jumplist          +postscript        +vartabs
+clipboard         +keymap            +printer           +vertsplit
+cmdline_compl     +lambda            +profile           +vim9script
+cmdline_hist      +langmap           -python            +viminfo
+cmdline_info      +libcall           +python3           +virtualedit
+comments          +linebreak         +quickfix          +visual
+conceal           +lispindent        +reltime           +visualextra
+cryptv            +listcmds          +rightleft         +vreplace
+cscope            +localmap          +ruby              +wildignore
+cursorbind        +lua               +scrollbind        +wildmenu
+cursorshape       +menu              +signs             +windows
+dialog_con        +mksession         +smartindent       +writebackup
+diff              +modify_fname      -sodium            -X11
+digraphs          +mouse             -sound             -xfontset
-dnd               -mouseshape        +spell             -xim
-ebcdic            +mouse_dec         +startuptime       -xpm
+emacs_tags        -mouse_gpm         +statusline        -xsmp
+eval              -mouse_jsbterm     -sun_workshop      -xterm_clipboard
+ex_extra          +mouse_netterm     +syntax            -xterm_save
+extra_search      +mouse_sgr         +tag_binary        
-farsi             -mouse_sysmouse    -tag_old_static    
         fichier vimrc système : "$VIM/vimrc"
     fichier vimrc utilisateur : "$HOME/.vimrc"
  2e fichier vimrc utilisateur : "~/.vim/vimrc"
      fichier exrc utilisateur : "$HOME/.exrc"
 fichier de valeurs par défaut : "$VIMRUNTIME/defaults.vim"
               $VIM par défaut : "/usr/local/share/vim"
Compilation : clang -c -I. -Iproto -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -DMACOS_X -DMACOS_X_DARWIN -g -O2 -D_REENTRANT -U_FORTIFY_SOURCE -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=1 
Édition de liens : clang -L. -fstack-protector-strong -L/usr/local/lib -L/usr/local/opt/libyaml/lib -L/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/lib -L/usr/local/opt/readline/lib -L/usr/local/lib -o vim -lm -lncurses -liconv -lintl -framework AppKit -L/usr/local/opt/lua/lib -llua5.4 -mmacosx-version-min=12.0 -fstack-protector-strong -L/usr/local/lib -L/usr/local/Cellar/perl/5.34.0/lib/perl5/5.34.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level/CORE -lperl -L/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/config-3.10-darwin -lpython3.10 -framework CoreFoundation -lruby.3.1 -L/usr/local/Cellar/ruby/3.1.1/lib 

As requested in comments