Which to use
“close” is a noun and “cross” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,880
- “close” frequency rank
- #9,698
- “cross” frequency rank
- 30578
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | close | cross |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Sackgasse | diagonal in das gegnerische Feld |
Where the eye mixes close and cross
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between close and cross
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: close is [kləʊz] while cross is [kʁɔs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
close is recorded at frequency rank #20,880, classified as anoun, pronounced [kləʊz]. cross is at rank #9,698, tagged as anadv, pronounced [kʁɔs].
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 30578, this pair ranks #1,745,079 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of close vs cross
Shared letters: cos. Private to "close": el. Private to "cross": r.
"close" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "cross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "close" and "cross" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "close" or "cross" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "close" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cross" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,745,079 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "close" and "cross" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clock vs close". 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 #1,745,079 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.