Which to use
“crashes” and “crises” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,652
- “crashes” frequency rank
- #13,492
- “crises” frequency rank
- 22144
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | crashes | crises |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of crash | plural of crisis |
Where the eye mixes crashes and crises
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between crashes and crises
A purely visual mix-up. crashes (/ˈkɹæʃɪz/) and crises (/ˈkɹaɪsiz/) 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 22144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
crashes is recorded at frequency rank #8,652, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹæʃɪz/. crises is at rank #13,492, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹaɪsiz/.
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 22144, this pair ranks #418,736 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of crashes vs crises
Shared letters: cers. Private to "crashes": ah. Private to "crises": i.
"crashes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "crises" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "crashes" and "crises" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "crashes" or "crises" 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 "crashes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,736 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "crashes" and "crises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crises vs Crist". 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 #418,736 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.