clashvscrushConfusable pair

Which to use

“clash” and “crush” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#34,577
“clash” frequency rank
#43,092
“crush” frequency rank
77669
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clash crush
Definition Geräusch, wie von einem Zusammenstoß; lautes, schrilles, klirrendes Geräusch Gewühl, Gedränge

Where the eye mixes clash and crush

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. clash and crush follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
clash
5 ch
crush

Look-alike desk: clash vs crush

A purely visual mix-up. clash ([klæʃ]) and crush ([krʌʃ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clash is recorded at frequency rank #34,577, classified as anoun, pronounced [klæʃ]. crush is at rank #43,092, tagged as anoun, pronounced [krʌʃ].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 77669, this pair ranks #255,606 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of clash vs crush

Shared letters: chs. Private to "clash": al. Private to "crush": ru.

"clash" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "crush" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clash ← calsh · cclash · clahs · clashh · classh · cllash · clsah · lcash
  • crush ← ccrush · crrush · crsuh · cruhs · crushh · crussh · cursh · rcush

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "clash" for "crush" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([klæʃ] versus [krʌʃ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "clash" vs "crush" - which ranks higher?
"clash" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,577 in our German list, against #43,092 for "crush". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "clash" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "crush" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #255,606 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clash" and "crush" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CPUs vs crush". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #255,606 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list