Which to use
“caresses” and “crosses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,360
- “caresses” frequency rank
- #8,775
- “crosses” frequency rank
- 55135
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caresses | crosses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of caress | plural of cross |
Where the eye mixes caresses and crosses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. caresses runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against crosses's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between caresses and crosses
A purely visual mix-up. caresses (/kəˈɹɛsɪz/) and crosses (/ˈkɹɔsɪz/) 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 55135, 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/. crosses is at rank #8,775, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹɔsɪz/.
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 55135, this pair ranks #135,941 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of caresses vs crosses
Shared letters: cers. Private to "caresses": a. Private to "crosses": o.
"caresses" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "crosses" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "caresses" and "crosses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "caresses" vs "crosses" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "caresses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crosses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,941 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caresses" and "crosses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caresses 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 #135,941 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.