Which to use
“caresses” and “creases” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,360
- “caresses” frequency rank
- #41,066
- “creases” frequency rank
- 87426
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caresses | creases |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of caress | plural of crease |
Where the eye mixes caresses and creases
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. caresses runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against creases's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses caresses with creases
A purely visual mix-up. caresses (/kəˈɹɛsɪz/) and creases (/ˈkɹiːsɪz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87426, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caresses is recorded at frequency rank #46,360, classified as anoun, pronounced /kəˈɹɛsɪz/. creases is at rank #41,066, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹiːsɪz/.
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 87426, this pair ranks #7,597 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of caresses vs creases
Shared letters: acers. Private to "caresses": -. Private to "creases": -.
"caresses" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "creases" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caresses" for "creases" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "caresses" or "creases" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "caresses" and "creases" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "caresses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "creases" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,597 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caresses" and "creases" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "creamer vs creases". 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 #7,597 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.