Which to use
“ceases” is a verb and “crashes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,872
- “ceases” frequency rank
- #8,652
- “crashes” frequency rank
- 29524
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ceases | crashes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of cease | plural of crash |
Where the eye mixes ceases and crashes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ceases with crashes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ceases is /ˈsiːsɪz/ while crashes is /ˈkɹæʃɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29524, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ceases is recorded at frequency rank #20,872, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsiːsɪz/. crashes is at rank #8,652, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹæʃɪz/.
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 29524, this pair ranks #362,268 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ceases vs crashes
Shared letters: aces. Private to "ceases": -. Private to "crashes": hr.
"ceases" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "crashes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ceases" for "crashes" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "ceases" or "crashes" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ceases" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crashes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,268 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ceases" and "crashes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs ceases". 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 #362,268 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.