Which to use
“crashed” and “crossed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,670
- “crashed” frequency rank
- #3,936
- “crossed” frequency rank
- 10606
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crashed | crossed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of crash | simple past and past participle of cross |
Where the eye mixes crashed and crossed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: crashed vs crossed
A purely visual mix-up. crashed (/kɹæʃt/) and crossed (/kɹɒst/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crashed is recorded at frequency rank #6,670, classified as averb, pronounced /kɹæʃt/. crossed is at rank #3,936, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɹɒst/.
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 10606, this pair ranks #491,456 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crashed vs crossed
Shared letters: cders. Private to "crashed": ah. Private to "crossed": o.
"crashed" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "crossed" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "crashed" for "crossed" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "crashed" or "crossed" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "crashed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crossed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #491,456 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crashed" and "crossed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crashed vs crusted". 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 #491,456 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.