Which to use
“crank” is an adjective and “crony” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,747
- “crank” frequency rank
- #40,192
- “crony” frequency rank
- 52939
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crank | crony |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hard; difficult. | A close friend. |
Where the eye mixes crank and crony
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses crank with crony
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: crank is /ˈkɹæŋk/ while crony is /ˈkɹoʊni/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52939, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crank is recorded at frequency rank #12,747, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɹæŋk/. crony is at rank #40,192, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹoʊni/.
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 52939, this pair ranks #152,967 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of crank vs crony
Shared letters: cnr. Private to "crank": ak. Private to "crony": oy.
"crank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "crony" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "crank" and "crony" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "crank" or "crony"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "crank" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crony" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #152,967 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crank" and "crony" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Croat vs crony". 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 #152,967 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.