Crack or craic?
crack is a verb meaning “To form cracks”; craic is a noun meaning “Often preceded by the: amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company…”. Use crack as a verb and craic as a noun (crack is also a noun: “A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously…”). They sound the same (/kɹæk/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) crack is about 132 times as common as craic.
What is the difference between crack and craic?
| crack | craic | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, noun, adjective | noun |
| Meaning | To form cracks To break apart under force, stress, or pressure A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material | IrelandOften preceded by the: amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company; also, pleasant conversation |
| Example | It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack | none recorded |
| Forms | cracks, cracking, cracked | none |
| Pronunciation | /kɹæk/ | /kɹæk/ |
| In writing | 26 times per million words | about once in every 5 million words |
Sources: crack and craic in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of crack and craic
crack
- 1
To form cracks
It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack
- 2
A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material
A large crack had formed in the roadway
- 3
Highly trained and competent
Even a crack team of investigators would have trouble solving this case
- 4
To break apart under force, stress, or pressure
When I tried to stand on the chair, it cracked
- 5
A narrow opening
We managed to squeeze through a crack in the rock wall
- 6
Excellent, first-rate, superior, top-notch
She's a crack shot with that rifle
- 7
To become debilitated by psychological pressure
Anyone would crack after being hounded like that
- 8
slangA sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack
I didn't appreciate that crack about my hairstyle
craic
- 1
IrelandOften preceded by the: amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company; also, pleasant conversation
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, crack or craic?
crack appears 26 times per million words; craic about once in every 5 million words.
crack 26 times per million wordscraic about once in every 5 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).